Misfits
by MechanicalNecromancer
Summary: Onyx is a normal 16-year-old girl. Until she found herself caught up in this Akatsuki mess. She's had a rough childhood and has been hurt too many times to count. She hasn't strayed from Sasori's side since she was a little girl. Will her newfound friends help her through life, or leave her stranded? OCxPein Light SasxOC. I Don't Own Naruto. R&R! I'm open to adding OC's. C:
1. Highschool

I pulled on my red pokemon baseball cap, leaving my room, which was decorated in purple. I'm Onyx Tenshi Uchiha (I like the last name, and Itachi's last name is different is this story) And I'm 16. Today I am starting my sophmore year of highschool, and dreading it. I'm not much of a school person. My hair flowed all the way down my back to the back of my thighs, it was a pitch black, except for my red bangs, and some red and silver stripes in it. At my school we have to wear uniforms, which sucks. The girls have to wear a navy blue short skirt, and a button-up shirt. I absolutely hate skirts, but I don't have much of a choice, do I? I left my empty apartment, and started walking to school. I took out my ipod and started listening to Bulletproof Love by Pierce The Veil as I was walking. I guess I was different from other girls. My hair was black and silver and red instead of blonde or brown. My eyes were a cold silver with purple rings in them, instead of blue, or green. And I was a lot smaller than normal girls. But that's because I was born pre-maturely. I have really thin bones and I'm a lot skinnier than normal. I'm also a lot more pale than I ought to be. But I didn't mind. Sometimes it's good to be different. My black combat boots scuffed the ground as I walked, not paying attention to the things around me. My boots made a clunking sound every time they hit the ground, but not that I could hear it. My music was too loud. Some people walked by, staring at me. I sighed and walked a bit faster. I looked up at the sky thinking about my parents. Well my mom and least. When I was little my dad constantly abused me. My mom had tried to stop him numerous times but always failed. But then they both died in the war. I had now arrived and school, and was walking down the hall, going to the locker number I had wrote on my hand. I flipped the lock around, trying to get the combination to work.

"Hey, Onyx." I heard a quiet voice say. I looked up to see my favorite red head Sasori Akasuna looking at me.

"Hey Sasori, looks like we're locker buddies." I said with a smirk.

"Yep. What's your first class?"

"Uh . . . Math. You?"

"Same."

"Cool." I said shoving my backpack into the locker. I tucked my ipod into my boot because the skirt didn't have pockets. I pulled my hat down over my eyes as I shut my locker. I noticed Sasori had his ipod on hand as well. As we walked to the math room, I struggled with my books, because there was so many.

"Want some help?" Sasori asked.

"Oh yeah thanks." He took some of the books off of the pile while I re-organized them. When I got them straight I grabbed the rest back from Sasori and put them on top.

"No problem." He replied. We got to the math door and walked in. We all stood in the back of the classroom until we got our assigned seats.

"Akasuna! Uchiha!" The teacher yelled pointing to some seats at a table. Me and Sasori scrambled to the table and sat down. I looked over at Sasori and realized he was smirking.

"What's up, Sasori?" I asked, looking around.

"Itachi's in this class. And so is Kisame." He replied.

"Oh shit. We're screwed." I groaned

"Yes, we definitely are." Sasori whispered back. I chuckled and shook my head. All of the tables were in groups of 5. Our table had Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, and empty seat, and myself. Then a guy with bright orange hair walked into the classroom, muttering apologies of being late. The teacher waved it off and sat him at our table, across from me, next to Kisame. He seemed normal so far, but then I got a good look at his face. He had 3 bridge piercings, 2 spiked snakebites, and 6 piercings on each ear, along with a bar through each ear. I had a couple piercings, a couple around my ribs, one side of my lip, and my ears were done exactly like his. I looked away as the teacher started coming around with nametags. Me and Sasori sighed simaltaniously. I mean nametags, really? We're not five. She handed me mine and my name was spelled wrong. It read "Onex U." I sighed and raised my hand.

"Um Miss Tobiko, you spelled my name wrong." I said. Itachi and Kisame snickered and I shot daggers with my eyes at them. The teacher came over with a new, blank nametag.

"Why don't you just write it?" She said handing me a marker.

"Ok." I replied, writing my name on it. I handed her the marker back and stuck the nametag on my shirt. I slid down in my seat glumly.

"How do they manage to spell your name wrong every year?" Sasori asked.

"I don't know. It's just a fancy name for black, so I don't know how they can spell it wrong so often. Especially when they're the teachers." I replied.

"I think it's funny." Itachi said, laughing.

"Shut up, Weasel." I said. Itachi stuck his tongue out at me and I did the same. I looked over at the new guy and his nametag read "Pein."

_'Pein?' I thought. 'What an odd name.'_ Suddenly his eyes flashed up to mine and I tensed up. Our eyes were almost the exact same color. His were purple with silver rings. We stared at each other for a while before looking away at the same time. The bell rang and everyone began to file out of the room. Sasori waited at the door for me, as usual. Next up was lunch, and a good thing too, I thought I might starve.

"Where do you wanna sit for lunch?" Sasori asked me.

"How about with Itachi and Kisame?"

"Ok. But I think I see Hidan over there. Prepare to get detention." I smirked and we started walking towards the table.

"Hey, guys." I greeted. All of them waved. Except for Hidan.

"Hello crazy-eyes and Puppett Boy." Yep. You guessed it. That's Hidan.

"Wow Hidan, you're in a good mood." Said Sasori sitting down. I sat down between Sasori and Itachi. Suprisingly Hidan didn't say anything back. Hidan's eyes roamed over my tray. He reached over and stole my apple. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Give. Me. My. Apple." I snarled.

"No-o." Hidan said, sticking his tongue out at me. He held the apple over his head, but then suddenly someone grabbed it. I looked up to see Deidara, holding my apple.

"Hey!" Hidan yelled, looking behind him.

"Here you go, Onyx." Deidara said, handing to me. He winked at me as I took it. I backed away in my chair a little.

"Uh, thanks Deidara."

"No problem, sweetheart." He replied. Sasori put himself between me and Deidara, narrowing his eyes. Sasori knew I didn't like Deidara.

"Sit somewhere else, you creeper." Sasori hissed. Deidara rolled his blue eyes and sat next to Kisame.

"Thanks." I whispered to Sasori.

"No problem." He said pulling off my hat and rubbing my head. I stole my hat back and put it back on my head over my eyes.

"Hey guys. This is Pein. He didn't have anywhere else to sit, so I figured he could sit here." My head snapped up at hearing his name. I looked up to see Kakuzu, standing by the guy named Pein.

"Hey Kuzu." Sasori greeted. Kakuzu winced at his nickname and sat down. Leaving Pein with the only seat left. The one across from me. Pein sat down across from me, and it felt like his eyes never left me. When lunch was over Sasori told me he would meet me at the next class and walked off. I shrugged and continued walking. Suddenly I was shoved to the floor, the impact caused my head to hit the floor and my books to scatter everywhere. I grunted as I picked my head up from the ground.

"Freak." I heard someone hiss. I touched my head where it hurt the most and found blood. Suddenly there was a cold hand at my elbow, it pulled me up from the ground. I stood up to meet a reflection of my own eyes. I realized it was Pein.

"Are you ok?" He asked. I nodded and touched my head. His eyes grew wide at the sight of my head. It was bleeding badly now.

"Come on. I'm taking you to the nurse." He said picking up my books.

"I-I can carry my books, Pein." I said, reaching out for them.

"No you can't. You can barely walk." He insisted . His hand was still on my elbow as we walked to the nurse's office.

"Oh my!" The nurse exclaimed as we walked in.

"Some kids pushed her down in the hallway. I know the names of the kids if you want them." Pein said.

"Yes I do. But we'll worry about that later. Right now we need to stop your bleeding." She said coming over to me, pressing a towel to my face.

"Here. Just hold this to your head. I'll be right back." She said walking out of the room, shutting the door. I looked at Pein. He was avoiding my gaze.

"Why did you help me?" I asked. He looked at me, turning his head to see me.

"Common courtesy." He replied. There was something off about him.

"No. There was a reason. Tell me." I insisted. He sighed. The nurse came back in and removed the towel from my head.

"Ok. You should be fine now. Go back to class." She said.

_'Oh yeah, I'm totally fine. I have a huge gaping hole in my head, but I'm ok. Bitch.' _I thought. She left again and Pein turned to me.

"You're not gonna go back to class are you?" He asked.

"Hell no. Screw her. I'm going home." I said trying to jump off the big bench thing I was sitting on. But I slipped on a paper towel on the ground and started falling. But before I knew it, Pein's arms were around me, keeping me off the ground. We looked at eachother with wide eyes before I scrambled out of his arms and stood up looking at the ground. I looked over at Pein and realized he was blushing.

"Hey." He said, looking over at me, still blushing. "You wanna get out of here?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said nodding. He led the way out the door and to a back door of the school, sneaking out.

"They won't miss us." He said smirking and walking outside. I followed him, smiling.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"Hmm . . . Oh! I know a place . . . " He said.

"Uh . . . alright. Let's go." I replied. He smiled at me and grabbed my wrist, dragging me toward the forest.


	2. Broken Wings

"Pein. Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see." He replied. He started running in the forest, zooming past trees barely missing them. Suddenly we stopped. The sudden abrupt motion caused my hair to fall in my face, covering it completely. He turned around and looked at me. I looked around, observing the area, brushing my hair out of my face.

"We're here." He said walking forward. He pushed back a bush to reveal a lake, the water glittered from the sun's reflection.

"Wow." I whispered. Marvelling at the place.

" I come here when I need to think. I normally don't like to share, but I think I can make an exception." He said, turning to face me.

"Pein. I just met you today, and I don't know anything about you. How can you trust me?" I asked.

" I don't know. I just do. There's something about you. You're different. You and your group of friends are the only people that don't ignore me. Or call me a monster." He said looking at the ground.

"Pein. You're not a monster."

"Yes I am. Look at me!" He yelled turning to face me.

"I don't see how people could think you are a monster." I replied.

"My hair. My eyes. My piercings. Pretty much everything." He said with a look of despair on his face.

"Pein. My hair is multi-colored. My eyes look just like yours. I have piercings, too." I whispered, walking closer to him. He looked at me, grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug. I blinked a couple times and then hugged him back. His body jolted when I hugged him back. He pulled me back by my shoulders to look at me. I smiled lightly.

"Onyx. I feel like I can trust you. With anything. I don't know why. But I do. So I'm just gonna tell you."

"Ok. What is it?" Suddenly I got a headache and words that were not mine flashed through my mind.

_' I'm a vampire.' _The words flashed through my mind so fast that I almost missed it. I looked back up at him. My eyes wide. His eyes were closed, but then they flashed open to meet mine. His eyes rippled and were a blood red for a minute but then went back to their original color.

"Pein . . . "

"It's true."

"I don't care." I said, shaking my head.

"What?" He asked.

"You're my friend now. That doesn't matter to me." I said, he looked up at me. I smiled and he smiled back. "So, what else is there to know about you?" I said sitting down and crossing my legs in front of him. He did the same, telling me information about him, like how his parents died when he was little, and what his favorite color was.

"So, what about you?" He asked me.

"Uh well, I'm Onyx Tenshi Uchiha. My favorite color is purple. My parents died when I was little, but my dad used to abuse me and my mom. I had a really rough childhood." I said looking at my lap.

"Hm. Well, tell me how you and Sasori met." He told me.

"Haha. Ok. Well it was kindergarten, and Hidan stole my lunchbox. So Sasori decided to get it back for me. And he gave me half of his sandwich since Hidan ate mine. He's a great friend. Sometimes I wonder what I would do without him. He's one of the closest friends I have." I said smiling, remembering the day we met.

_FLASHBACK_FLASHBACK_

_"Hidan! Give me my lunchbox back!" A 6-year old me yelled. _

_"Make me!" The little Hidan yelled. _

_A FEW MINUTES LATER . . . . . . . . . _

_"Hey, is this yours?" Sasori asked, holding my lunchbox._

_"Yes! Where did you get it?" I said grabbing the lunchbox out of his hands. I opened it to find it empty. My shoulders slumped. _

_"Hidan had it. I'm Sasori by the way. What's your name?" He asked._

_"I'm Onyx." I replied._

_"Well Onyx, you can have half of my sandwich if you want." He said smiling at me._

_"Thanks!" I said, smiling back._

__END OF FLASHBACK_END OF FLASHBACK__

"Hmm. He does seem very protective over you." Pein stated, ripping me out of the flashback.

"Yeah. It's ok, though." I replied.

"Yeah like today at lunch, what was that about?" Pein asked.

"Oh well, I think Deidara has a thing for me, and Sasori doesn't like that too much. And neither do I." I said, remembering the way Sasori had looked at Deidara. Was it possible that he- No. That could never happen.

"Huh. I thought it was cool, the way he protected you. It surely shows how much he cares about you." Pein said, looking at me.

"Yeah. It's kinda sweet. I've been hurt a lot, though. We were friends before my parents died, so he was the only one I had left after it happened. I stayed at his house a lot because my dad abused me. His mom treated me so nice. Like her own daughter." I whispered.

"Yeah. Well we should be heading back, don't you think?" He asked, looking up at the dark sky.

"Yeah. Sasori will worry. So where do you live?"

"Uh . . . I don't really have a home."

"Really?" I asked

"Really." He replied.

"Well you can stay with me and Sasori if you want." I offered.

"Wouldn't that be weird?"

"No. Not really. Sasori seems to like you, unlike Deidara, so you should be fine." I said.

"Uh ok then, lead the way." He said pointing in the direction out. We walked to the apartments in comfortable silence. When we got there I opened the door to find Sasori on the couch. He stood up when I walked in.

"Onyx! Where have you been?!" He said picking me up and hugging me.

"Sasori." I wheezed. "Can't. Breathe."

"Oh, sorry! I just get so worried about you. I tiny girl like you out alone so late." He said taking off my hat. "Oh my god! What happened to your head?!" He yelled. "Did someone hurt you? Was it Deidara? I'll kill him!" He fumed. I lunged forward and gave him a hug.

"I'm fine. It wasn't Deidara. And I wasn't out alone. I was with Pein." I said gesturing to Pein, who stood out side the door. Pein waved half-heartedly. "And some bitch pushed me down in the hallway and Pein brought me to the nurse, and after she was done she told me to go back to class and it's clear I'm in no state to be in class, so we ditched. Don't be mad!" I said hugging him tight again.

"I'm not mad." He said, placing the hat back on my head. He walked over to Pein. "Thank you, Pein, she can be a target quite often. Would you like to come in for a bit?" Sasori asked.

"Sure." Pein said stepping in the apartment.

"Hey, do you guys want some tea?" I said, walking into the kitchen.

"Sure, Onyx. Pein, would you like some tea?" Sasori asked.

"I'd love some." Pein replied. I came back out with the tea, setting it on the table. I sat next to Sasori on the couch and Pein sat in a chair across the table from us.

"So Pein, do you have a scholarship at school?" Sasori asked.

"Sasori!" I scolded.

"Onyx, it's fine. And yes, I do. It's a music scholarship. Well, voice scholarship." Pein replied.

"Really?" Sasori asked. "Onyx has the same scholarship. She is an amazing singer."

"Sasori, you're just a little bit biased there." I said, shaking my head. "I'm not amazing. I'm ok. Ish. I'm nowhere close to amazing." I said looking at the ground.

"I doubt he's biased, Onyx. I see you listening to music all the time, it's no surprise you're a singer." Pein said.

"I guess. Anyway, Sasori, Pein doesn't have a place to stay, so I figured he could stay here?" I asked.

"Sure. Why not?" Sasori said.

"See? I told you he would be fine with it!" I said to Pein. Sasori chuckled and smiled at us. And again words that weren't mine flashed through my head.

_'The way he looks at her. It's not masochistic like Deidara's. It's adoring. A lot like how I think. They're so cute.'_ Sasori's voice sounded in my head.

My eyes flashed to Sasori, he was smiling, looking back and forth and me and Pein. Suddenly Sasori clapped.

"I've got it!" He yelled.

"You've got what?" I asked.

"You and Pein should sing together!" Sasori yelled.

"Uh . . . uh . . . uh . . " I stuttered, trying to come up with a reason why not to. Me and Pein's eyes flashed to eachother then Sasori, then back to eachother.

"I guess I'm open if you are, Onyx." Pein said.

"Alright. Fine." I said sighing. "But let me change. I hate this school uniform."

_PEIN'S POV!_PEIN'S POV!_PEIN'S POV!_

"Alright while she's changing, come with me." Sasori said getting up. I got up also and followed him into a room painted blue. There was a window to a room that had microphones and some microphones in it. It also had stools and a couple other things. I looked around the room, taking it all in.

"Hey, come listen to this. It's Onyx. She's doing a cover of a song she really likes." Sasori said. I walked over and he put a pair of headphones on my head. Immediately my ears were filled with a beautiful sound that was so beautiful it was unexplainable. I could tell it was Onyx, though. It sounded like it belonged to her. Her voice sang:

_"It's late and I am tired. Wish I could spark a smile. This place is flying high, but right now I want to be low. Don't wanna move an inch, let alone a million miles, and I don't wanna go, but I know I gotta go. I just want to fell alive."_I

"Wow, she's really good." I said.

"Yeah no kidding. She plays instruments too. She's really talented." Sasori said back. Suddenly the door to the room opened and Onyx walked in. She was wearing a purple tank top that hugged her body in a way that was so beautiful it was unexplainable. She was also wearing a pair of black shorts along with the boots she was wearing earlier. I noticed little bumps on her ribs, she had said that she had other piercings, were those them? They must be.

I couldn't tear my gaze away from her. And I realized that the school uniform hid her so much. I noticed she was really small. I hadn't noticed before but she was quite short, but I thought that was cute. Her hair fell perfectly down her body, hitting the back of her thighs. _"She's so pretty. No scratch that, she's __**beautiful. **__I wish she was mine__**." **_ I thought. I shook my head, looking away from her. People like her, didn't belong with me.

_ONYX'S POV_ONYX'S POV_ONYX'X POV_

_"Why is Pein staring at me?" _I thought as I walked into the room with the microphones, ignoring both his and Sasori's eyes. I realized Pein had never seen me dress like a normal person, and the baggy school uniform hid my body completely. He was probably sickened at how skinny I was. I looked down but then looked back up at my microphone adjusting it to my height. Pein walked in soon after I did. He also adjusted the microphone on his stand, because he was a lot taller than I was. I flipped on the microphone and then went over and switched on Pein's. Then I got ready to sing.


	3. Harmony

And then I realized I had no idea what I was going to be singing yet.

"Hey Pein?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, what are we singing?" I asked.

"Good question. I bet we listen to the same music."

"Yeah." I said.

"I have something. Hey Pein, you like Seether?" Sasori asked. His voice boomed through the speakers.

"Uh yeah." Pein replied. I knew exactly what Sasori had in mind.

"Good." Sasori replied and something slow and melodical fill the room. I soon recognized it as Broken by Seether. To my suprise Pein started first:

_" I wanted you to know, that I love the way you laugh, I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away." _He sang and I sang the last word with him. He sang again:

_"I keep your photograph, and I know it serves me well, I wanna hold you high and steal your pain." _ The next part we sang together.

_" 'Cause I'm broken, when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right, when you've gone away." _Our voices sounded prefect together.The next verse was my part:

_"The worst is over now, and we can breathe again.I wanna hold you high and steal your pain, away. There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain." _ And the next part we sang together:

_" 'Cause I'm broken, when I'm open, and I don't feel like, I am strong enough, 'cause I'm broken, when I'm lonesome. And I don't feel right, when you're gone away." _I was surprised at how well our voices mixed together. Mine was a higher pitch and his was a lower one. But we sounded really good together. We repeated the chorus again:

_" 'Cause I'm broken, when I'm open, and I don't feel like, I am strong enough. 'Cause I'm broken, when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right, when you're gone away." _We finished and the song faded out. I opened my eyes and looked at Sasori.

"How'd we do?" I asked.

"You guys . . . sound . . . AMAZING!" He yelled. Both me and Pein plugged our ears.

"Ow! Sasori, turn down the volume!" I yelled.

"Oh, sorry." He said softly, and turned down his microphone. I turned off me and Pein's as well and we all walked back out into the living room. On the way there Pein touched my shoulder in the hallway.

"Hmm?" I said, turning around to meet his eyes.

"Your voice . . . it's one of the best I've ever heard." He said smiling.

"Uh, thanks. It's the same for you." I replied, smiling back. He looked at the ground, but didn't let go of my shoulder. I looked at his hand on my shoulder and I realized our skin was identical. Both of them pale, and you could see the veins. There was so much about us that was similar. I realized Sasori had continued down the hall into the living room. But I could feel him, peeking around the corner, watching us. But I wasn't getting a negative aura from him.

"Let's go." I said, nodding towards the living room.

"Ok." He replied, following me and I walked over and sat down on the couch in the living room. I looked in the kitched to find Sasori, grabbing something out of the fridge. I heard a knock on the door and I got up to open it. I opened it to find Deidara, smiling at me, leaning against the door frame.

"Hey, beautiful." Deidara said, gently touching my cheek.

"Uh hi?" I squeaked, backing up. I backed up right into Pein. I turned around to meet his eyes. My panicked eyes met his and suddenly he wrapped his arms around me, pulling my body against his. He lowered his face down to mine and pecked my cheek.

"Who's at the door?" He asked me. I blinked, shaking my head, trying to make sense of all of this.

_"What is going on?!" _I thought furiously. I looked over to Sasori, who was glaring at Deidara. Sasori then looked over at me and Pein. His eyes met Pein's and then mine and Sasori walked over to Deidara.

"Get. Out. Now." Sasori snarled. While Sasori distracted Deidara I turned around.

"Pein, what are you doing?" I asked, in a hushed voice.

"Protecting you from Deidara." He whispered back. Now I got it. He was pretending that he was into me to get Deidara to leave. I turned around again and found Pein's arms around my shoulders, I leaned back into him, trying to make it believeable. Deidara peeked out from around Sasori and I immediately looked up at Pein, who looked down at me. He pecked my cheek again and I fake giggled. Deidara walked out after seeing that. Sasori turned around, looking at me and Pein. I couldn't help but notice how warm Pein was, compared to my coldness.

"Good thinking, Pein." Sasori said, nodding to him. Pein's arms left my shoulders as Pein nodded back. "That guy is a creep." Sasori growled. "And I want you to stay away from him. Ok, Onyx?" Sasori said, stepping closer to me. I nodded. "And whenever Deidara is around, I want you to stay by Pein. Just do what you did today and he should leave you alone. Ok, Onyx?"

"But Sas-!" I tried to argue. But Pein interrupted me.

"I think it's a good idea." Pein said. " I know, it's gonna be uncomfortable, but it's gonna be worth it. Deidara won't leave you alone unless I'm around." Pein said, looking at me.

"I guess. But-!" I tried to argue again, but Sasori cut me off this time.

"Onyx, this is for your safety. I want you safe. I'm not losing you to Deidara." Sasori insisted.

"Fine." I said, giving up. I heard a knock at the door and got up again to get it. But Pein rached over, grabbing my wrist and pulling my back against him again. I leaned into him again as Sasori opened the door to reveal Itachi.

"Oh hey, what's up, Itachi?" Sasori asked.

"Nothing. Just bored. I thought I'd come over here an-" But he stopped himself short as he looked at me and Pein, widening his eyes.

"Oh, uh , uh." I stuttered, scrambling out of Pein's arms. I went over and stood by Sasori.

"Oh let me explain that. Come in, Itachi." Sasori said, stepping to the side to let Itachi in. Itachi sat down on the couch next to me. And next to me sat Pein, and Sasori sat on the chair across from us.

"You see, Itachi. You know how Deidara acts around Onyx, right?" Sasori asked.

"Oh, extremely creepy and awkward? Yeah." Itachi replied, nodding.

"Ok, well he was just here, acting creepy, and Pein had this idea, so he pretended to be her boyfriend, and Deidara backed off. So, we thought you were Deidara, coming back. So that's what that was about." Sasori said, leaning back in the chair.

"Oh, ok. I get it now." Itachi said. And once again, words that weren't mine rushed through my head.

_"Who would have to pretend? She's the prettiest girl I know. Man, I wish I was in Pein's position." _The words were Itachi's. And then I heard Pein's: _"Pretending? Ok, I guess that'll work for now. But she didn't seem to pull away automatically like she was uncomfortable about it. I'm not pretending, maybe she's not." _My eyes widened at this. He wasn't pretending? Did he really like me? Maybe I had picked up someone elses' thoughts. That must be it. That night, after Itachi left, Sasori said he was going to bed and walked to his room.

"So, where do I sleep?" Pein asked.

"Oh. Probably in my room. This thing isn't big enough for you, and it's really uncomfortable. My bed is huge, I can sleep on the floor." I said, getting up and walking to my room. He followed me.

"You're not sleeping on the floor. I will."

"No. I will sleep on the floor. You sleep on the bed. I'll be fine on the floor." I insisted.

"I'm not gonna argue with you over this!" Pein replied

"You know what? Why don't we just both sleep in the bed? Ok? It's big enough." I said gesturing to it.

"I guess. But wouldn't Sasori be mad?"

"No. He'll be fine." I said.

"Ok." I sat down on the bed and began to take off my boots. Pein bent down and untied his converse shoes, and then dropped them on the floor. I put my boots by my dresser, where they normally went. I took off my hat and set it on the dresser. I shook my head, which caused my hair to fly everywhere. I quickly brushed through it, getting all the knots out. I looked over at Pein, who was watching my every move. Soon after we both climbed into my bed. I turned around to face the wall, facing away from him. The covers ruffled as he did the same.

I rolled over, half awake. I glanced at the alarm clock on the dresser it read: 3:49 AM. I groaned and rolled over. My head hit something warm and I looked up and saw Pein's face. And I realized my head was laying on his chest. He was still sleeping. I gasped and rolled over again, facing away from him, and quickly fell asleep again.


	4. Promises

I woke up to my alarm clock blaring at me, I ignored it for a minute, but then got up to shut it off. Pein was still sleeping on the bed. _'How can he sleep through that?' _I thought, looking at him. I looked over at the alarm clock, it read: 6:45 AM. I went over to PEin and knelt beside him. I gently shook his shoulder.

"Hey, Pein you need to wake up, or we're gonna be late." I said, shaking him.

"Hmm?" He said, opening his eyes and blinking a couple times. "Did I sleep?" He asked me.

"Um, yeah. Most people do." I replied.

"I normally don't. That's weird." He said, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, get up. We're gonna be late if you don't." I said, standing up. While Pein walked out into the kitched, I changed into my school uniform and pulled down a sweatshirt over the short-sleeved navy blue button-up shirt I had to wear. I went out into the kitchen to see Pein and Sasori talking.

"Good morning, Oni." Sasori said, waving at me.

"Morning, Sasori. Are you feeling ok? You haven't called me Oni since we were little." I said, smiling.

"I'm good. Just happier than usual." He said, taking a bite of toast. "Well, are you two ready for school?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm ready. How about you Pein?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go." He replied, standing up. I quickly grabbed my backpack and followed them out the door. We walked to school together, making small talk between eachother. When the 3 of us walked in the school doors, everyone looked at us weird. I heard whispers throughout the hallway. That was normal. I sighed and walked to my locker, and I realized the locker on my other side was Pein's. Funny how that worked out, huh?

I flipped the lock around, like I had yesterday. It opened up, and I shoved my backpack into the locker, then only took out what I needed. My books, some paper, and a pencil. I also took along my sketchbook in case I got bored, which I often did in school. The 3 of us walked into the math room and sat down at the table we had yesterday, Itachi and Kisame were already there. The teacher wasn't in the room yet, so I grabbed out my ipod and put the earbuds in my ears.

As I did this, I noticed that I had left my sweatshirt on, we couldn't wear sweatshirts in class. I sighed and got up. Sasori gently grabbed my wrist as to ask 'where are you going?'

"I need to put my sweatshirt in my locker." I said and he let go. I walked out the door and I could feel Pein's eyes on my back. I walked through the quiet halls, enjoying the silence. When I got to my locker, I opened it and shoved the sweatshirt inside. I closed the locker and turned around, only to find Deidara, staring back at me. I blinked a couple times, thinking that he wasn't really there. But he was.

"Uh hi Deidara." I squeaked, pressing my back against my locker.

"Hi. How are you today?" He asked, reaching out and cupping my cheek with his hand. I pulled my head back, out of his reach. "Aww, why so scared? Your little Sasori not here to protect you?" He asked, an evil glint in his eyes.

"Get away from her. Now." I heard a familiar voice growl. I looked over to see Pein, glaring at Deidara.

"Pein!" I yelled.

"Get outta here, Pein. This is none of your concern." Deidara snarled back. Deidara grabbed my shoulders, pressing me up against the lockers. I closed my eyes as my back hit the locker. I felt a sharp pain in my back, one of the locks had scratched my back.

"No. Leave her alone. She doesn't like you. Get over it." Pein said, anger glowing in his eyes.

"Whatever." Deidara said, letting go of my shoulders. I sighed with relief. Deidara walked away and I ran over to Pein and hugged him.

"Thank you." I whispered. "I was afraid he was going to hurt me. I owe you one, Pein."

"No you don't." He said, hugging me back. "You're keeping my secret, remember? That's more that I could ever ask for."

"Let's get back to class." I said pulling away.

"Ok. " He said, following me in the direction of the classroom. When I walked into the classroom Sasori looked at me with wide eyes. He passed a note in my direction. It read: _'What happened? Where the hell were you?" _I picked up my pencil and began to write back. I wrote : _'It was Deidara. He cornered me at my locker. But I'm ok. Pein took care of it.' _He read it and then looked at me, clearly pissed off. _' I'm gonna fucking kill that idiot! If he ever touches you again, he will pay for it.' _After I read that, I folded the paper and tucked it into my book. I looked up and noticed Pein had been watching us pass the paper back and forth. The bell rang and everyone began to file out of the room.

Sasori had just sat down at the table and turned around to look for me. I was heading towards the table he was sitting at, when Sasuke stepped in front of me.

"Hey Onyx, why don't you sit with us today?" He asked with a smile, pointing towards a table. Then Deidara appeared out of nowhere.

"Yeah Onyx, sit with us." Deidara said, smirking at me. I gasped and looked at Sasori for help. But he was faced away from me.

"She's not sitting with you guys. C'mon, Onyx." Pein said, grabbing my hand and towing me towards the table where Sasori was, along with Itachi and Kisame, and Kakuzu, and Hidan.

"Thanks." I whispered to Pein before we sat down.

"No problem." Pein replied, letting go of my hand as I sat down between him and Sasori. Sasori stole my hat and put it atop his own head. I didn't mind. I smiled at him, remembering how he called me Oni this morning. He smiled back.

"So Sasori, Deidara was being an ass this morning. Did Onyx tell you?" Pein asked.

"Oh, yeah she told me. That bastard. Trying to mess with you like that. It's clear that we can't leave you alone." He said, his smile disappearing.

"I'll be fine." I insisted, stealing my hat back off his head.

"Onyx, you have to understand, I'm not letting you get hurt. I won't stand for you not being protected. And if me and Pein can't protect you, who can?" He asked. Sadly, he had a good point.

"I guess. But I just- I don't know." I said shaking my head. " I feel useless. Like I'm a target 24/7. And if it's not Deidara, it's Karin and Sakura. That's who pushed me down in the hallway the other day." I said, looking at Sasori.

"You're not useless. And those bitches, Karin and Sakura, they're just jealous." Sasori said.

"Why would they be jealous?" I asked.

"Probably because Sasuke likes you." Itachi said, smirking.

"Ok, ew. Sasuke's gross." I replied. Itachi, Hidan, and even Kakuzu laughed at that.

"Ok. So what are we gonna do about this Deidara thing?" Kisame asked. "I don't want Onyx getting hurt, either. None of us do."

"Guys, I'll be fine, seriously." I insisted. I looked over across the lunchroom and found a guy with light brown hair staring at me. He smiled and me and I looked away. But I could still feel his dark brown eyes on me. I looked around the room again and found my eyes on the same guy. Pein looked at me, as if sensing there was something off. He looked in the direction I was and saw the guy.

"Onyx, whatever you do, don't talk to that guy." Pein whispered.

"Why? " I asked, looking at Pein.

"He's bad news. Just promise me you'll stay away from him."

"Ok. I promise." I said looking at my still full tray.


	5. Bulletproof

I soon realized that Pein and Sasori were in all of my classes. But all of us were in my art class. At my table there was Pein, who sat next to me, and Sasori and Deidara, who sat next to eachother. At another table there was Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi, and Kisame. And at another one there was Karin, Sakura, Sasuke, and the guy with the light brown hair that had been staring at me in the lunchroom. We were all wearing nametags again, and his read 'Karako B."

I noticed that Pein kept looking over at the guy named Karako. Well, more like glaring. I wonder what Pein had against him. He must have a good reason, though. The teacher explained that we would be making masks, you could make any kind of mask that you want. The teacher had us plan ours out before we actually made them. Mine had lots of intricate lines that formed into roses around the eyes and mouth. The base color of my mask was white, but I planned the roses and the swirls to be a light shade of blue. Sasori was watching Deidara carefully, as if he would try something any minute.

Sasori was struggling to draw his mask on paper, so the teacher told me to help him. I walked over to the other side of the table, trying to be cautious of Deidara, who watched me as I walked over.

"What's your plan for the mask?" I asked him.

"Well, I'm not sure. I was thinking stitches or something." He replied.

"Oh, well that's easy." I took his pencil and began drawing diagonal stitches over the face of the mask, I made the mouth stitches as well. When I was done I pushed the paper towards him and he looked at it.

"Wow. That's really cool." He said, looking at me.

"I guess." I replied. I walked back over to my seat and sat down. I started to re-draw the eyes for my mask, I made them winged, instead of just ovals. I felt something behind me and I turned around to see the guy named Karako behind me.

"Hello. Your mask is really cool." He said, looking at me. I looked over at Pein, not knowing what to do. Pein sighed and I looked back at him.

"Uh, thanks." I said, turning around to face the table again. He leaned on my side of the table and Pein glared at him.

"I'm Karako Biaki, by the way."

"I'm Onyx Uchiha." I replied.

"Pleasures mine." He said back. Even Sasori is glaring at him now. Everybody seemed to be, did I miss something? Even Deidara glared now. "That's a very intricate design you've got there. Is there a reason behind it?" He asked.

"Well, no not really. " I replied. I could see Pein tense up next to me. I drew another rose on the cheek and began to draw swirls around it, blending it with the rest of the mask. The teacher came over and told Karako to sit down in his seat and he did. I went to a desk which had all the colored pencils on it. I grabbed a light blue one and walked back to my desk. I began to color the swirls and the roses. After I was done the teacher handed me a plastic clear mask.

I began to put plastic strips of paper with glue on them. After I was done I painted the swirls on the mask. I put a little gold paint around the eyes where they started to flare out. After I was done the teacher put my mask on the table with the others that had finished. I turned around to walk away but then remembered I had never put my name on it. I took a marker and put my name on it and set it back on the table. I turned around and bumped right into Sasori.

"Oh, sorry Sasori." I said.

"Haha, it's ok. " He replied, helping me up.

"So, how'd your mask turn out?" I asked, trying to look at it.

"Like this. I really like it." He said, holding it out so I could see it. "I'm glad you drew the stitches I would've never been able to do this with out it."

"It's no big deal." I replied, I walked back to the table and sat down. Pein was just finishing up his mask when I came by. I took out a piece of paper and began to doodle on it, Pein got up and put his mask on the table with the others. After that the bell rang and everyone started to leave. I waited for Sasori and Pein by the door and then we all walked to our lockers. It's a shame we have art class last. I opened my locker and grabbed my sweatshirt. I put it on and closed my locker. I saw Itachi, who was walking towards us.

"Hey, guys." He greeted.

"Hey Itachi." I replied. I leaned back against my locker and immediately jumped away from it, the scratch on my back had hit the locker. I winced and leaned forward a little bit.

"Hey, are you ok, Onyx?" Itachi asked. Sasori and Pein looked at me with interest and saw me leaning away from the locker.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. It's just- Well it was Deidara. Remember when he slammed me against that locker, Pein? I think it left a bruise." I replied.

"This has gone on long enough." Sasori growled, his eyes glazed with anger. He slammed his locker and started to walk in the direction of Deidara.

"No! Sasori, stop!" I yelled, grabbing his arm. "Please."

"Why? I'm tired of him hurting you." He said, looking back at me.

"You can't hurt him. You'll go to jail or something. I don't wanna lose you." I whispered, looking at the ground.

"Come on." Sasori said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me away from the others.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course." I replied. He pulled me out of the backdoor of the school, it was dark back here. Suddenly he stopped and turned around, which pressed me against the brick wall. He took a step closer, coming close to me._ 'What's he doing? Why did he bring me back here? It's hard to see.' _I thought.

"Guess why I don't want him to hurt you." He said. He looked up at me, his brown eyes no longer were filled with anger.

"Um, well I know you care about me, that much is obvious." I replied, looking down. I felt his cold hand go under my chin, I grew nervous as he gently tipped my head upward, forcing me to look at him.

"Well, it's much more than that." He whispered. He took a step closer and placed his hands on either side of my head on the brick wall behind me.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was nervous now. He was really close now. I heard him laugh under his breath. He looked up at me again and smirked.

"Onyx, I love you." He whispered in my ear. I was frozen by his words, it surprised me. His hand cupped inder my chin again, tilting my head upwards. My silver eyes met his brown ones. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I pulled back and pressed my body against the wall. His hands slid down the wall behind me to settle on my waist. He pulled me forward, pressing my body against his. I pulled away from him completely. I stood back against the wall again. I looked down at the ground, shaking.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. I tore away from the wall and started running. "Onyx!" I heard him yell, but I wouldn't stop. I ran back into the school, it was mostly empty now, but I kept running. I ran by my locker and saw Pein.

"Onyx?" He asked, as I ran by, but I kept running. I didn't know where I was going, but I didn't care, I just had to be away from here. I ended up at the lake, where Pein had taken me. I burst through the bushes and collapsed on the ground on my knees. Tears slid down my cheeks but I didn't make any noise. So many questions were running through my head.

_'Why did he do that?'_

_'Did he mean what he said?' _

_'Did he mean what he did? And if he did why did he keep it a secret this long?'_

_'Why didn't he tell me when we were younger?'_

I got up and began to walk home. I walked home alone, I normally wouldn't walk home alone. Normally I would call Sasori and have him walk me home, but he didn't know where I was. I just walked out of the forest when Deidara came out of nowhere.

"Hey there, beautiful." He said, stepping in front of me.

"Fuck off." I said, walking around him.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" He yelled, grabbing the back of my shirt. I gasped as he pulled me back in front of him. "What do you want?!" I yelled. He chuckled and looked at me with an evil glint in his eyes.

"You." He replied. He picked me up and pressed me against a tree, I turned my head away, looking at the grass. I began to cry again, but I didn't make noise the tears just streamed down my cheeks silently. "Where's your little band of protectors, huh?" He asked.

"Go fuck yourself." I growled quietly.

"Oh, now why would I do that when I have you here?" He asked. He took the collar of my shirt in both of his hands and ripped my shirt down the middle. I began to cry more, now making little whimpering sounds and shaking.

"You get the fuck away from her. Right now." I heard a familiar voice growl. I looked up to see Pein. Glaring at Deidara. Deidara stepped back away from me, looking at Pein.

"How many times have I told you this isn't your place to be?" Deidara asked, turning around. I was still shuddering uncontrollably. I looked down, scared of what would happen. Pein ran forward, connecting his fist to Deidara's face. I heard a crack and looked up. Pein was on Deidara, choking him.

"If you ever touch her, ever, you will not come back alive." Pein growled. When Pein got off of him, Deidara scrambled away without a word. Pein walked towards me and then crouched in front of me.

"P-please, don't hurt m-me." I stuttered, looking at the ground.

"Shh, I'm not gonna hurt you. You're gonna be ok." He whispered, taking off his coat and wrapping it around me, since my shirt was in shreds on the ground. I tried to stand up, but then almost fell over. I was ready to hit the hard ground, but Pein's arms reached out and caught me. He picked me up and held me like a small child. Tears still sprung from my eyes and down my cheeks. I must've fallen asleep or something, because I woke up to yelling in the apartment.

"What the hell happened?!" I heard Sasori yell.

"What the fuck do you think happened?!" I heard Pein shoot back. "It was Deidara! Who else?!"

"She ran away!" Sasori yelled.

"And you didn't follow her, why?!" Pein said. Sasori had no answer. "What were you two doing anyway?" Pein asked.

"That's none of your concern." Sasori said, turning away.

"I swear, Sasori if you hurt her . . . " Pein trailed off.

"What are you gonna do? You don't even know her. I wouldn't hurt her." Sasori replied.

"Sasori, don't think I won't take her away from here. If I find our you're hurting her. You're not gonna like it." Pein growled.

"Whatever." Sasori said, rolling his eyes. He walked out into his room and Pein walked over to where I was laying on the couch. I shut my eyes, pretending to sleep. I felt something cold swipe across my forehead gently. I opened my eyes and realized it was Pein's hand.

"Hey you're awake." He said quietly.

"Yeah." I said. I tried to sit up but fell backward again. Pein chuckled and helped me sit up, keeping an arm behind me.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Not really."

"Thirsty?"

"No. But thank you for asking." I replied, standing up. Pein followed me as I walked to my room. He closed the door behind us as we walked in.

"Onyx?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened yesterday, when you and Sasori ran off?" He asked.

"Uh . . . well. Don't tell Sasori I told you, ok?" I asked.

"Ok. I promise." He replied.

"Well, long story short, he told me he loved me, and then kissed me." I said looking at the ground. "And then I ran off. It's kind of my fault that there wasn't anybody there with me. I went to that lake that you showed me, the first dat I met you. And when I was walking home alone and Deidara just popped out of nowhere . . . " I trailed off.

"Yeah I know the story from there. I saw you running in the hall. I thought maybe Sasori had hurt you or something. Did he?" He asked.

"No." I replied, looking at my hands, which rested in my lap.

"I thought I saw you crying, were you ok?" He asked.

" I was crying. For a long time. I-I'm not sure why. Just lots of pressure I guess. And then Sasori on top of that was just too much. That, and I just don't feel the way he does." I replied, tears welling up again.

"I-I'm sorry." He whispered leaning towards me. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. I leaned into him, shaking again. "It's ok. I'm here whenever you need me. But, um you might wanna put on a shirt."

"Oh! S-sorry! I forgot!" I said standing up.

"Heh. It's ok." He replied. I stood up and walked over to my closet, I took out a baggy black-and-grey striped shirt. I took off Pein's jacket and set it on the bed next to him. I pulled the shirt over my head, turning around. I looked at Pein and realized he was blushing. I smirked and sat back down next to him again.

"Thanks." I whispered, scooting closer.

"For what?" Pein asked.

"Pein, you saved me. If you hadn't been there when Deidara was there, I don't know what would have happened. I don't know where I'd be. I seriously owe you one." I replied.

"No, you don't. You're the first person here I trust. You never judged me. Or talked down to me. I don't know what I would do. Not to mention, you're the only one who knows about me." Pein said, looking at the ground. I leaned over and hugged him.

"Pein, I'm glad I met you." I said. He put his arms around me and hugged me closer.

"I'm glad I met you too. I was going crazy, no one knowing what I actually am. It's nice to have someone who knows." He replied back.

"By the way, I didn't tell Sasori." I said, looking up at him.

"Good. Somehow I think he would kick me out if he knew."

"I wouldn't let him."

"Really?" He asked, looking down at me, his arms were still wound around me.

"Really. Somehow I think Deidara is gonna leave me alone now." I replied.

"I hope so. That bastard. Just thinking about him gets me mad. Much less the idea of you with him." He said, I saw his jaw clench.

"We better get to bed." I said, pulling away. He nodded and looked at me, I saw sadness in his eyes. I reached over and pecked him on the cheek, his eyes widened for a moment before he smiled. I layed down and he did the same and I quickly fell asleep.


	6. Emmelina

**A/N: Big thanks to OragamiBlueAngel for reviewing! c:**

**~RisaMelody**

I woke up to the alarm clock blaring again. This time Pein had actually woken himself up, he was the one who shut off the alarm. I got up and quickly changed and then walked out into the kitchen. I saw Sasori sitting on a stool near the counter. He was facing away from me, so he hadn't seen me come in. I ignored his presence and sat on the couch, waiting for Pein. Things were still a little bit weird between Sasori and I, we hadn't talked about what had happened yesterday. That was a part of him I had never seen before. I never knew he felt that way, but I was determined to ignore the concept for as long as I could.

Pein walked out into the living room and saw me sitting on the couch, he looked between me and Sasori for a minute before coming to sit by me on the couch. A few minutes later Sasori got up and left. Me and Pein sat on the couch in silence.

"We should probably get going." Pein said, looking over at me.

"Yeah I guess. Do we have to go?" I asked, looking at him.

"I'm afraid so." He replied, patting my shoulder. I sighed and stood up. I grabbed my backpack from the chair across the table. As we walked out the door I pulled my hat down over my eyes. When we got to school, Sasori was at his locker, having trouble opening it. After a while he got it open. When I was done I shut my locker, making sure to put my sweatshirt in there this time. I waited for Pein to be done and then we walked to math class. When we got to the door Sasori was already there, with Itachi and Kisame. We sat down at the table and I knew Itachi and Kisame could tell there was something off. I just wished that things could be like they were between Sasori and I. The bell rang and we all filed out of the room.

When I was done getting food that I probably wasn't going to eat I looked over at the normal table we all sat at. Everybody was there except for me I walked over to the table and sat down between Sasori and Pein. When I sat down I saw Sasori stiffen, as if I had a disease or something. I ignored it and listened to Hidan and Kakuzu fight over something stupid. About 20 minutes into lunch I sighed and stood up. I dumped my tray in a trashcan and walked out of the lunchroom. I exited the school and walked until I found the lake Pein had shown me. I sat down under a tree.

"Somehow I thought you'd be here." I heard somone say. I looked over to see Itachi, leaning up against a tree.

"Oh, hi Itachi." I said, looking back over at the lake.

"Hey, I know what happened between you and Sasori." Itachi said, sitting down next to me. "He regrets it, and he misses you." He continued. I looked down at the ground, wanting to drop the subject. "He wants things to be like they were before." He finished.

"It's not like I don't miss him. I do. And I want things to be the same again, but I just can't bring myself to say it. I know how he feels, and I respect that, but I just don't feel the same." I replied. "Itachi, what should I do?" I asked, I'd never gone to Itachi for advice before but I didn't have any other choice.

"Well, I think that you should talk to him about it. Let him know how you feel. He'll understand." Itachi replied, standing up.

"Ok, thanks Itachi."

"Hey, it's no problem. But we should get going, you don't wanna worry the others."

"Yeah, I guess not." I said, standing up. Itachi walked me home, talking about how Kisame liked this girl who didn't know he exists. When we got to the door, I thanked him for walking me home and went inside.

"Hey, Onyx." Pein greeted from the couch with a smile.

"Hey Pein, have you seen Sasori?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think he's in his room." He replied.

"Thanks." I said, walking in the direction of Sasori's room. When I got to the door, I knocked quietly.

"Come in." I heard a voice from inside say. When I opened the door Sasori's eyes widened.

"Onyx?" He whispered.

"Sasori, we need to talk about this." I said, closing the door behind me and sitting next to him on his bed.

"About what?"

"You know what." I replied, looking at him.

"Ok, Onyx, I just want things to be like they were before. I miss that. We can be friends, nothing more. Can we just pretend that it never happened?" He asked with a smile.

"I'd like that." I replied, reaching over to hug him.

"Good." He said, hugging me back. I sighed and leaned more into him.

"I missed you. For the one day that we didn't talk. And I'm sorry. I put myself in danger, as well as you and Pein. So I'm sorry." I said, hoping he wouldn't be mad.

"I missed you too. And you shouldn't be sorry. I should've followed you when you ran away. I should have explained. And I know what happened. Pein told me." He replied.

"I know. I was awake for that part. I don't like it when you two yell at eachother." I said, looking up at him.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It's ok." I replied, I pulled away, standing up from his bed. I told him I would see him tomorrow morning and left his room, feeling better. I came out smiling. Pein didn't ask, but I figured he knew that everything was back to normal. I sat down next to him on the couch, still smiling.

"Things go well?" He asked, looking at me.

"Yeah. Everything's good now. Good thing, too. I don't like it when you two fight."

"Yeah, we didn't mean to yell at eachother, we were just really stressed. You were hurt, and we didn't know what to do." He replied, looking at the floor.

"Yeah. We should go to bed, it's getting late." I said, standing up.

"Ok." He replied, standing up and following me into our room. He closed the door behind him and stared at me for a moment. I stared back for a little bit.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said, nodding.

"Ok." I replied. After that we both layed down in the bed, it wasn't really awkward anymore, I was used to him now. I fell asleep quickly

I woke up to find myself screaming, I sat up quickly and tears began to flow down my face. _'It must have been a dream about Deidara.' _I thought. I felt Pein sit up beside me.

"Onyx! Are you ok?" He asked frantically, looking scared. I nodded in response and layed back down. I felt him lay down behind me. I was shaking a little and was trying to stop. I felt Pein roll over towards me. Then his arms locked around my waist from behind.

"P-pein." I stuttered, turning around.

"Shh, it's ok." He whispered, pulling me closer. I tried to push away, but he was too strong. He pulled me close. "It's ok, I'll protect you forever. I promise." I heard him whisper. I stopped stuggling when he said that, trying to relax. I quickly fell asleep after.

I woke up and all around me it was warm, Pein's arms were still wrapped around me, holding my body close to his. My head was pressed into his chest, right under his chin. I looked over at the alarm clock which wasn't beeping. It read: 7:50 AM. I gasped and shot upright in bed, I looked over at Pein and shook his shoulder.

"Pein! Wake up! We're late!" I yelled, getting up and running to my closet. He sat up sleepily. I tore off my shirt and grabbed one at random from my closet, quickly throwing it over my head. I looked back over at Pein, who was now frozen in place, putting on his shoes. He stared at me.

"Oh! Sorry." I apologized. "I forgot you were here for a minute."

"Uh, it's ok." He said, standing up. I ran into the kitchen, putting on my boots as I ran. Me and Pein quickly left, remembering to lock the door behind us. On the way to school I remembered last night. Why had Pein done that? Probably because I was freaking out and he was trying to calm me down. We rushed into class just as the bell rang. The teacher turned around to see me and Pein slip into our seats. Itachi and Kisame looked over at us, snickering.

"Overslept?" Itachi asked. Me and Pein both nodded in response. Itachi and Kisame could tell things were back to normal between Sasori and I now. Sasori stole my hat off my head and put it on his own, I smiled and took it back, sticking my tounge out at him. He smiled and laughed. It was good to have things back to normal. I started sketching a person on my paper, and soon realized I was drawing my mom. Her black pixie-cut hair framing her happy smiling face. Her ice blue eyes filled with happiness. Her smile was the best, it always made me feel better to see her smiling. I smiled at the picture sadly, out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasori glance at the paper, he looked at me and then back at the paper he smiled sadly too. He had met my mother 3 times, only when my dad hadn't been around. I remembered the first day they had met. My mother had actually been quite fond of Sasori.

_FLASHBACK_FLASHBACK_

_I opened the door to my small house, holding the door open for Sasori._

_"This is my home, Sasori." I said, stepping in after him. He looked at the pale blue walls, and the flower mold around the ceiling. "Mom! You home?" I asked, walking into the kitchen, which was painted purple. _

_"Yes, honey." She replied, turning around. Her short black hair a little messy from cooking. She was wearing a pink dress, with a white apron over it. Her ice blue eyes filled with happiness as Sasori walked into the kitchen._

_"Mom, this is my friend Sasori. Sasori this is my mother, Emmelina Uchiha." I said, gesturing to each of them._

_"Oh, so you're the little Sasori Onyx talks about so much. It's very nice to meet you." She replied, crouching down to Sasor's height to shake his hand._

_"It's very nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Uchiha." Sasori replied with a smile. "You look a lot like your mother, Onyx." Sasori said to me. _

_"Well then I guess that makes me the most beautiful mother ever!" Mom replied, hugging me tight. Her hugs always made me feel better. Me and Sasori laughed. The timer on the oven rang and she turned around, letting go of me. "Who wants cookies?" She asked._

_"I do! I do!" Me and Sasori replied, taking one off the plate. Mom's cookies were always the best._

__END OF FLASHBACK_END OF FLASHBACK!__

Tears welled up in my eyes as I was brought back to life, ripped out of the flashback I so desperately wanted to stay in. I sniffled a little bit and Sasori put an arm around my shoulder.

"I miss her, too." He whispered to me, looking at the drawing. The bell rang and people began to file out of the room, when Itachi and Kisame left Pein walked over to me and Sasori's side of the table, he looked down at the drawing. I looked back at the smiling women, the one who looked so much like me.

"Hey, we have open lunch, why don't we go somewhere for a change?" Pein asked, looking at me.

"That's an excellent idea, Pein." Sasori replied. The three of us stood up and we ended up at home. I made sure to pick up the drawing from my desk before I left. When we arrived at home Pein, Sasori and I all squished on the couch.

"So, who is this?" Pein asked, gesturing to the picture.

"It's her mother." Sasori replied, looking at the picture, I saw sadness in his eyes. I nodded to confirm it was true.

"She looks a lot like you, Onyx." Pein whispered, looking more intently at the picture. I nodded in response, not trusting my voice. Tears were welling up again, I sniffled again, and took a shuddery breath. I saw Sasori nod too. I saw a tear slip down his cheek before he wiped it away.

"Come here, I'll show you a picture of her. A real picture." I said, getting up and walking to the room that me and Pein shared. I walked over to the dresser that I had, I pulled out the very bottom drawer and pulled out a picture of my mom. She was wearing a green dress that hugged her body, her pixie black hair was curled delicately around her face, she was also wearing a green butterfly clip, and her smile was wide and beautiful. The picture was ripped in half, I had done that. My dad was the other half of the picture. If it weren't for him, Mom would probably still be alive. A tear slid down my cheek as I handed the picture to Pein, he took it, gently he traced his finger around the edge of the photo.

"If you're going to ask about the other half of the picture, it was my dad. He was a monster. He didn't deserve an angel like my mom. That was the night we'd all gone to the carnival together. As a family." I said, sniffling. I felt Sasori's hand on my shoulder again, his way of saying ' I'm sorry, I know you miss her. I do too.' I looked at him and tried to smile, failing horribly.

"What was your mom's name?" Pein asked quietly.

"Her maiden name was Emmelina Tenshi Hitsaki. I originally didn't have a middle name. But I changed it to Emmelina because of my mother." I said, closing my eyes.

"Emmelina. That's beautiful." Pein whispered, carefully setting the picture back in my lap.

"Yeah. That's why I want to get Emmelina tattooed on my wrist. She was such a great person. Always smiling, always happy. I miss her so much." I said, my voice cracking. I felt Pein reach over and hug me, I leaned into him, making sure to keep Sasori's hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Pein whispered.

"I'm ok, guys." I said, looking at them. "Thanks for being here for me, though." I smiled weakly. "Let's get back to school." I said, standing up. They stood up along with me and we walked back to school in time to make it to class and not be late. At last we got to art class, I waved at the others as I walked in.

I sat down next to Pein with a smile. He looked over at me and smiled back. I could feel Deidara's eyes on me as I pulled out the picture I drew of my mom. A hand reached across the table and grabbed the picture, pulling it out of my grasp. I gasped and looked up to see Deidara holding the picture.

"Hey! Give that back, you asshole!" I yelled running over to get it. Pein immediately followed me.

"Yeah, give it back bitch!" Pein yelled. Suddenly another hand grabbed it from Deidara, I looked over to see the kid Karako holding the picture.

"I believe this is yours." He said, walking over to me and handing to me.

"Thanks." I said, grabbing the paper from his hands. Pein glared at Karako and Deidara as we walked back to our seats. Today we were doing drawings, we could draw whatever we wanted to, I decided to draw Sasori, he's easy to draw. I started off sketching his face, then the red hair that fell down and framed his dark brown eyes. After I was finished I pushed the paper toward him.

"Is this me?" He asked, looking up at me. I nodded, smiling.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yeah! This is cool! Thanks!" He said, putting it in his binder. I smiled, he liked it. I saw Pein smile out of the corner of my eye. I would draw him next.


	7. Confusion

**A/N: Big thanks to PervertAnimeOtaku for reviewing! It means a lot! Sorry this took a little longer to get up I had total writer's block. R&R and give me ideas for future chapters! Thanks! c:**

**~RisaMelody**

The final bell rang and everyone started to gather their stuff and leave. I quickly picked up the purple binder that I always carried around. It had my name written in the middle of the front, and around it were bands that I liked and other things. I waited by the door for Sasori and Pein again, they always took forever. I was standing by the door when that kid Karako came over to me.

"Hey."

"Hi." I said quietly looking down at the ground.

"That picture that you drew earlier, it's really good. You're a really good artist."

"Thanks." I said. I looked up to see Pein turn around and glare at Karako. Pein quickly walked over to me.

"Hey, ready to go?" Pein asked.

"Yeah. Let's go." I said, turning towards the door. I walked out the door, Pein and Sasori following me.

"Try not to talk to that guy, ok?" Pein asked, looking at me with worry in his eyes.

"Ok. But Pein, why shouldn't I talk to him?" I asked. Sasori looked over at Pein, wanting to hear the answer.

"I'll tell you when we get home." He replied, looking at the ground. By the time we had arrived at home Sasori had forgotten what Pein was supposed to tell us. But I hadn't. When we got home Pein immediately went to the room that we shared. I followed him, closing the door behind us. Pein sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. He sighed and looked at the ground.

"Pein, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?" He replied, putting a fake smile on his face.

"Because, you're acting all panicky, that's not like you. Don't lie to me. What's bothering you?" I asked.

"It's just that kid, Karako."

"What about him?" I asked.

"Well, when I was a kid, I didn't have any friends. They were all scared of me. I got bullied prefusely. Most of it came from this kid Karako. I remember one day when I was walking home . . . " Pein trailed off, visions ran through my head, this time it looked like a flashback, not just words.

_FLASHBACK PEIN'S POV_FLASHBACK PEIN'S POV!_

_I was walking home and I heard heavy footsteps behind me. I turned around to see who it was, it was Karako._

_"Where you going?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me._

_"Nowhere of your concern." I replied, my voice shakey. Now I was breathing heavy, worried that he would hurt me._

_"Well, it's not like you have a family to go home to anyway. They're all dead. Aren't they? What do you go home to, a shack in the woods?" He asked, grinning evilly._

_"S-shut up!" I yelled, turning around and running. I ran as fast as I could, but he still caught up with me. He grabbed my arm, crashing me to the ground. He kicked my ribs, I felt a couple of them shatter. Then he kicked my jaw, and I heard the bone crack. He smashed my face into the dirt, most of it getting in my mouth. When he let my head up I spit out the dirt, blood coming along with it. I heard him snicker and then he walked off. I stood up and limped home, hoping to actually make it back alive._

__END OF FLASHBACK_END OF FLASHBACK!__

Onyx's POV:

I gasped and looked up at Pein. He had a look of despair on his face.

"I'm sorry." I said, gently touching his shoulder. He looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked.

"Well, I know what he did." I replied.

"How?"

"I don't know. I just had this really weird flashback in my head. It was of you, and Karako. You were walking home and he hurt you." I replied.

"Did you like, read my mind or something?"

"I don't know. This happens sometimes, but normally it's only peoples' thoughts." I said, looking at the ground.

"Huh. That's cool. Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He asked.

"Well it only happens sometimes, so I didn't want you to feel like I could hear what you were thinking all the time. That's kinda weird." I replied.

"Yeah, I guess. But anyway, you get why I want you to stay away from Karako, right? Because once he gets close to you, he's gonna hurt you." He said, looking at me.

"Yeah, I know. But what do I do if he talks to me?"

"Make small talk. Don't give out any personal information. None." He replied.

"I told him my name the other day, is that ok?"

"Yeah. You should be fine, just stick with me. You'll be fine." He said.

"Ok." I said, nodding. "Do you want me to tell Sasori?" I asked.

"No, not really. I'd rather you didn't. He would probably think I was weak, which I was back when I was 10, but still."

"Ok. I won't tell him."

"Thanks." He said, smiling. "So what do we do now?" He asked. I shrugged, bored.

"Homework?" He asked.

"Fine." I replied. I pulled out my math book, flipping to the page that the lesson was on. "How far did you get?" I asked, scooting closer.

"Uh, number 6, you?" He replied, looking at me.

"Number 1." I said sheepishly, looking down. I heard him chuckle beside me. I looked up to see him smirking.

"That's ok. Scientific Notation is difficult." He said, looking at my paper, which only had my name on it.

"Not for you. You're smart. You make me look like a retarded rock." I said.

"That's not true. You're not book smart, but you're people smart. I'm the complete opposite." He replied.

"That's not true either. We're friends. You're friends with Kakuzu, Hidan, Itachi, Kisame all of us." I said, looking at him.

"I guess. But you guys accepted me. I didn't even try." He said, looking at the ground.

"Whatever. Anyway, what did you get for number 1?" I asked, smirking. He snickered and scooted his paper towards me and I started to copy the answers.

"You know, when the test comes, I'm gonna fail." I said, looking up.

"Well, yeah but who gives a fuck. We don't have parents, so it's not like it matters." He replied.

"That's true." I said, nodding. "How many were we supposed to do?" I asked.

"10." He replied. I groaned and fell backward on the bed, landing on my back. "Don't worry. I can tutor you so you won't fail." He said, pulling me back up.

"Alright." I said."But you're going to have to talk very slowly and explain like I'm a 3 year old." I replied, smirking.

"Ok. I'll try." He said, smiling back. He tried to explain Scientific Notation to me but it didn't work. So we gave up.

"Ok, you can't be taught." He said, shaking his head.

"I know. I'm stupid. Sorry." I said, laughing.

"You're not stupid. Math just isn't your subject."

"Translation: You're a retard." I replied, laughing. He laughed too. "Ok, I'm hungry how about you?" I asked, getting up.

"Yeah, me too." He said, following me. I walked to the kitchen, finding Sasori on the couch.

"Hey Sasori, want a sandwich? We're making food." I said, looking at him.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks for asking, though." He replied.

"Alright." I said, walking in to the kitchen. Me and Pein made a sandwich and then quickly ate them. By the time we were done it was 10:30 PM and we decided to go to bed early. When we walked into the room we could still hear Sasori yell at the TV from the living room. I laughed and looked toward the door, and I saw Pein crack a smile. I grabbed a brush and began to rake it through the thick knots in my hair. After I had gotten all of the knots out I grabbed my sketch pad and began to draw my mother. I drew her delicate face, the light smile that was always there.

I don't know why I was drawing her so much lately. I guess I just missed her. Then again, her birthday was around this time of year. Her birthday was October 15th. It was October 3rd. But I was also excited because Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. I slowly sketched the black pixie-cut hair that fell around her face. I drew her ice blue eyes, the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen. I smiled sadly at the picture, then put it in my notebook. I would take it with me to school tomorrow. I looked over at Pein, who had been watching me this whole time. He came over and sat next to me, gently taking the notebook from my hands and taking out the picture. He smiled at the picture and tucked it back in the notebook.

He looked up at me and smiled.

"You know, you are really good at drawing. I saw that picture of Sasori, it was so realistic." He said.

"Thanks. Not many people pay attention to my drawings, most of them are just sketches. But I love drawing my mom, I always have." I replied, smiling.

"Well, I think that you should draw a picture of her, paint it, and then put it up on the walls in here." He said, gesturing to the bland walls.

"That's a good idea." I said, nodding.

"Well, we should get to bed, we have school tomorrow."

"Yes, unfortunately we do." I said, looking down at my lap. I felt something cold and soft run across my forehead. I looked up and Pein gently brushed back my bangs that covered my eyes half the time. My eyes met his for a minute before retreating back down onto my lap. He pushed my bangs back behind my ear, sweeping them out of the way. I looked back up at him and he smiled.

"Why do you hide your eyes?" He asked, his hand sliding down my cheek and curving around my chin.

"I- Because they're weird." I stuttered.

"Not really. More beautiful then they are weird. Or at least that's what I think." He replied, smiling.

"Eh. I wish I had my mom's eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen." I said, remembering the bright look she always wore.

"I take it you get your eyes from your father?"

"Yep." I replied coldly. I saw him nod.

"Me too." He replied. His hand now moved up to cup my cheek. I looked up at him in surprise. Why was he acting like this? This was way out of character for him. I started to blush, pink rising up on my cheeks. I looked up to see him smiling. I looked back down, blushing a little darker. He gently tilted my head up, looking in my eyes. I found myself smiling back. His hand moved slightly, one of his fingers gently tracing along my lips. My stomach flip-flopped.

_'Did Pein . . . like me?' _I thought, trying to make sense of all of it. He couldn't. But then why was he doing this? He's never acted like this before. He scooted a little closer and my eyes broke from his. I stared at the ground, trying to keep the red in my cheeks under control. He tilted my chin up again, gently tugging my face closer. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine for a second before I gasped and jumped back, my face going red all over again.

"I-I'm sorry." He whispered, looking at the ground. "I-I didn't mean t-" He cut himself off.

"It's ok." I said slowly, shaking my head. Sasori couldn't know. And he wouldn't. I wasn't going to tell him. And I knew Pein sure as hell wasn't going to. "I'm just gonna lay down." I said, climbing in bed.

"Ok." He said. He stood up and turned off the light and then climbed in next to me. I stayed awake for a bit, processing what had just happened.

_'If I didn't like Pein then why did I get butterflies when he touched my face like that? And when he kissed me, for that split-second, I felt something.' _I thought. After that I fell asleep.

I woke up facing Pein, close to him. It was late about 3 AM. Pein's eyes opened, I could tell he was half asleep. He wound an arm around my back, pulling me against his chest. I gasped quietly, not sure if I should pull away or lean in closer. I stayed where I was. Suddenly Pein tilted my head up towards his and his lips were on mine again. I gasped again, unsure. I tried to pull away but I couldn't, his hold on me was too tight. He pulled me closer, kissing me a little more deeply. I tried not to panic. His arm unwound from me, only to glide up the side of my body. His hand stopped at my waist. He let go of me, pulling my lips away from his. His arm wrapped around my back, pulling me to his chest, which was covered in piercings. I stayed still, trying to stop the violent shaking of my body. I tried to relax and eventually fell asleep.


	8. Together

I woke up around 10:45. Considering it was saturday, I didn't care. If it was a school day I would have freaked out, but probably not gone to school. I was facing Pein when I woke up. I got up quietly, trying not to wake him up. I walked out into the kitchen to find Sasori on the couch. I smiled and sat down next to him, still in my pajamas; A blue tanktop and a pair of shorts.

"Good morning." Sasori said as I sat down.

"Morning." I mumbled back, smiling.

"You look quiet happy this morning." He commented. I shrugged in response. I went into the kitchen and popped some waffles in the microwave. When they were done, I took them out and ate them on the couch. I heard shuffling and looked over to see Pein coming down the hallway yawning. He walked into the kitchen and came out with a glass of water, he still looked half asleep. I looked down at the now empty plate in my lap. I got up and went to the sink, washing off my plate.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to the store today. Is there anything you guys need?" I asked, leaning back against the counter. They both shook their heads to say no.

"Ok, I'm gonna go look for a job." Sasori said, looking at me.

"Alright, I will too." I replied, looking at the ground. I walked back to the room me and Pein shared to get dressed. I changed into a 'My Chemical Romance' shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. It was days like this where I didn't have to wear that stupid school uniform. I slipped on a pair of black high-tops and left the room. I walked out into the living room to find Sasori gone, he must have left already. Pein was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV with a blank look. He looked up at me and smiled as I entered the room.

"Hey, I'm gonna go, do you wanna come?" I asked, smiling back.

"Sure, just give me a minute to change. And about last night-" He said, but I cut him off.

"It's fine." I replied. He nodded and left to change. A few minutes later he came back out. We walked to the door and I locked it behind us. We walked out into the hallway to find Itachi sitting on the floor.

"Hey, Itachi." I said, walking over to him.

"Hi." He said glumly.

"You ok?" I asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just bored. Where are you guys off to?" He asked.

"The store. And I'm looking for a job. Wanna come with?" I asked, smiling.

"Sure. And I know where you can get a job. I work at this restaurant, and they're hiring right now. It pays pretty well, and I could recommend you." He replied, standing up and walking with us to the door.

"Really? Thanks Itachi!" I replied.

"It's no problem. Hidan, Kakuzu and Kisame work there as well, so you won't be alone."

"That's good." I replied.

"Hey, we can take my car, so we don't have to walk." Itachi said, walking towards a black car. Me and Pein followed him and both of us sat in the backseat, trying to ignore Itachi's wreckless driving. When we arrived at the store, I saw quite a few people from school. I picked up a few food items and then we left. After that Itachi drove (dangerously) to the restaurant he said was hiring. When we arrived we walked under a very large bright red curtain, it hid the place from everything on the street. I went up to the desk and asked for a job application, the lady gave me one and I started to fill it out. I saw Itachi walk up to the lady at the desk and talked to her. After he told her something she nodded and smiled enthusiastically. He walked back over to where me and Pein sat at a table. Pein looked around the room, taking it all in. I saw Hidan yelling at a cook in the kitchen about an order being wrong. He looked over at me and I waved. He waved back, flipped the cook off and walked away. I chuckled and looked back down at the job application. I finished filling it out and gave it to the girl at the desk who smiled at me when I started to walk away. After that Itachi drove us home. When me and Pein arrived at home, Sasori was sitting on the couch looking happy.

"Hey, how'd the job hunting go?" I asked.

"Good. I applied for a job packing and shipping things. I think I have a pretty good shot." Sasori said. "How about you?" He asked.

"Good for me too. I applied at a restaurant as a waitress. Itachi recommended me as well, so hopefully I'll get it." I said, smiling. I put away the food I bought at the store and went into my room. I started drawing my mom, this would be the one that I was going to paint and put up on the wall. I drew her face, she had always worn a smile, even though she was going through all of that pain in her life.

I finished drawing her and set the drawing down on the bed. I looked over and saw Pein sitting in a chair, reading a book. I hadn't noticed him come in. I wonder if he had tried to talk to me. Pein looked up from his book and looked at me. He smiled at me and I smiled back. He got up and came over to sit next to me on the bed.

"Is this the one you're going to paint?" He asked, looking at the drawing.

"Yeah." I replied, nodding.

"I have to say, this one is my favorite out of all the ones you've drawn." He said, picking it up.

"Really?" I asked. He nodded in reponse, still holding the drawing. " I'm gonna paint her dress a light purple. I remember it from when I was a kid. She was wearing it the first day she met Sasori. I know she would've liked you, Pein." I said, looking at the ground.

"You think so?"

"Yeah." I replied, looking up. He had set the drawing down and set his book on the floor and was now looking at me. "Where do you think I should put the painting when it's done?" I asked, looking around the room.

"How about there?" He replied, pointing to a spot on the wall next to the bed.

"Yeah. That's a good spot. I plan on showing Sasori when I'm done, too. I know he's gonna like it." I said, looking back at the drawing.

"How long have you and Sasori known eachother?" Pein asked.

"Um, since we were 6. So about 10 years."

"Wow. I don't think I could stay friends with someone that long. I'm not a people person." He said, looking at the ground.

"I used to have a lot of friends. But when my parents died, I realized the only one I really trusted was Sasori. He was the only one who had ever gone to my house." I saw Pein nod.

"I've never really had a lot of friends. I had a couple, but they drifted off with time." He said, looking at the ground.

"Well, it's gonna be hard for us to drift apart. You kinda live here, y'know." I said, smiling.

"Yeah, I know." He replied, smiling back. He scooted closer to me and then wrapped his arms around me and pulled me toward him, hugging me. I frove for a minute but then hugged him back so he wouldn't feel awkward. His hand found his way up under my chin and he tilted my face up again, as he had last night. I looked up at him, confused. Why was he acting like this lately? He looked down at me, smiling. I found myself smiling back. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. My stomach flip-flopped and I gasped, unsure of what to do. I couldn't pull away because he had an arm wrapped around my back, pressing me to him. There was a knock at the door and Pein quickly pulled away, his eyes wide.

"Come in." I called to the door. It had to be Sasori, who else could it be? As predicted, Sasori walked into the room.

"Hey, you guys hungry? I made dinner." He said, smiling. Both me and Pein shook our heads no. He walked out of the room and I stared at the ground.

_'Why hadn't I pulled away? Had I wanted to pull away? I don't even know what to think right now. Why didn't I tell him that I didn't want to kiss him' _I thought frantically.

"Onyx." Pein whispered. I looked up at him he was looking at the ground. "I-I can't keep this in anymore." He said, looking up at me.

"Pein, what are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"Onyx, I like you. I _**really **_like you. Do you know what I mean?" He said.

"Yeah. I get it." I replied.

"I'm sorry. I-I just don't know what to do. I know you probably don't feel th-" He started to say, but I cut him off.

"Pein, you're one of the very few guys I trust. I'm not sure if I feel the same way. I don't really mind it when you kiss me, it doesn't feel wrong, but not quite right either. I personally wouldn't mind dating you but if Sasori were to find out, who knows what could happen." I said quietly.

"That's true. I wouldn't want him getting mad at you or anything. But, I think that if we told him, rather than keeping it from him it would be easier to tell him. Don't you think? You know him way better than I do, what do you think?" He asked, looking at me.

"Hm, I don't think we should keep it from him. I think we should tell him." I replied.

"Yeah, me too." He said. We were quiet for a few minutes.

"Pein?" I asked, looking at him.

"Hm?" He said, looking up at me from the ground.

"Are we like, a thing now?" I asked.

"Hm, I guess. I'm not going to force it upon you. But if we did, how would we tell Sasori?"

"I don't know. I'll tell him when you're not around. Just in case."

"So is that a yes?" He asked.

"Yeah." I replied, nodding. "I'll tell Sasori tomorrow on the way home from school. Just go to Itachi and Kisame's place. It's right across the hall."

"Ok. Should I tell them while I'm over there?" He asked.

"Yeah. That would be easier." I replied, nodding. "You know, Deidara's gonna freak out when he finds out."

"I know. I'm prepared. And plus, you're worth it." He said smiling. I blushed a light pink, smiling. He scooted closer and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. I closed my eyes as his hand slid down my cheek to cup my chin. He tipped my face upwards and I opened my eyes. His eyes met mine, I thought it was weird how they were almost the exact same color. He leaned down, bringing his face close to mine. He pressed his lips against mine, my stomach didn't flip-flop as bad this time. I felt one of his hands go to my shoulder, pulling me a bit closer. I kissed him back, leaning into him. His hand on my shoulder slid down, stopping at my waist. He moved his other hand from my chin, placing it on my waist as well. I felt one of his pointed snakebites gently poke into my chin. I pulled away and laughed.

"What?" He said, smiling.

"One of your piercings poked me." I said, between giggles. I heard him laugh too. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed." I said, standing up.

"Ok." He replied. I took off my shoes and then layed down in the bed. Pein layed down next to me. I rolled over, my back facing him. His arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I leaned back into his back, a couple of his piercings poked into my back but I didn't care. I quickly fell asleep to the sound of his breathing.


	9. Understanding

I woke up to find Pein asleep next to me. I got up and walked out into the living room, but couldn't find Sasori. The phone on the counter started ringing I walked over to it and grabbed it off the reciever.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hi, is this Onyx Uchiha?" A friendly womans voice asked.

"Um, yes." I replied.

"Hi, this is Naomi Tsuka, from the restaurant that you applied for downtown. I was just calling to confirm that you have been hired as a waitress." She said. My heart jumped a little inside my chest.

"Thank you so much! When should I start?" I asked excitedly.

"You can come in later today and get your schedule if you'd like." She replied.

"Ok, thank you!"

"No problem, bye."

"Bye." I said and hung up the phone. I hadn't noticed Pein come in, but he was leaning back against the counter opposite from me when I turned around.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"A lady from that restaurant that I applied at." I replied.

"Did you get the job?" Pein asked.

"Yeah. I can't wait to tell Sasori about it." I said, smiling.

"That's great!" Pein said, smiling. It was then Sasori walked in the door.

"Sasori, guess what?"

"What?" He asked.

"I got the job that I applied for at a restaurant!" I replied happily.

"Awesome! You'll be happy to know that I got the job that I applied for as well." He said, smiling.

"That's great! I'm gonna go get dressed and then go pick up my schedule." I said, walking back down the hallway. I hadn't noticed Pein followed me until he shut the door after me. I grabbed a shirt that had a rainbow on it and set it on the dresser while I picked out some pants. I grabbed a pair of gray pants and then looked over at Pein, who didn't seem to be paying attention but I didn't care. I grabbed a blanket and threw it over his head.

"Not fair!" He yelled from underneath the blanket. I giggled as I finished changing. I went over and pulled the blanket off his head. As I was about to turn around he grabbed my hand. I turned back around and looked at him. I took a step closer smiling at him. He pulled me forward into his lap. I felt a little awkward sitting there for a moment before he pulled me closer and pressed his lips against mine. I laughed and kissed back, leaning into him. His arms wrapped around my back, pulling me tight against him. I pulled back.

"I gotta go." I said, getting up from his lap.

"Don't go." He said, catching my hand again.

"Then come with me." I said, pulling him up. He smiled as I grabbed my shoes and headed out into the living room. He grabbed his on the way out as well.

"Hey Sasori, I'm gonna go." I said, sitting on the couch to put on my shoes.

"Ok, do you want me to go with you?" He asked.

"No, Pein's gonna come with me." I said, standing up. Me and Pein left and started walking. Pein grabbed my hand as we left the building, walking out into the parking lot. We saw Itachi's car parked next to a dark blue car. It was probably Kisame's. When we arrived at the restaurant I walked up to the lady at the desk and told her my name and why I was here. She smiled andhanded me a paper with dates and times on it. She handed me an apron and name tag, both with my name printed on them. I thanked her and walked toward Pein who was standing by the door. Me and Pein walked out the door and onto the sidewalk. I handed him the schedule and he looked it over.

"They spelled your name wrong on your schedule." He said, smiriking.

"What?" I said, grabbing back the paper from him. Sure enough, at the top of my paper "Onix. U." Was written boldly across the top of the paper. "Seriously? Is my name that hard to spell?"

"No, it really isn't. I don't know why everyone spells it wrong. It's kinda weird though, on your apron and nametag it's spelled right." He replied.

"Hm." I said, walking into the apartment complex. We ran into Itachi and Kisame on our way in. Since Pein had been holding my hand, he had quickly let go when we saw Itachi and Kisame.

"Hey Kisame, where you been lately?" I asked, smiling.

"Eh, been sick." He replied.

"Ah. I see. I got a job." I said.

"You? A job? No way, you're far too lazy for that." He said, laughing.

"Whatever." I replied.

"So you got it?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah. This is my schedule." I said, handing it to him. He and Itachi snickered upon seeing the top.

"They scheduled you for all the days I work. They probably did that on purpose, since I came in with you." He said, handing the paper back.

"Hm. Is there a dress code or anything?" I asked.

"No. You have to wear an apron and a nametag, but that's it." Itachi replied. "I can drive you if you'd like." He offered.

"Sure."

"Ok, tomorrow I'll pick you up around 5."

"Ok." I replied, walking into the apartment. Sasori was sitting on the couch watching TV when me and Pein walked in. Now it was about 4 PM and I was hungry. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fridge. Since tomorrow was my first day of work I wanted to do some laundry so I had decent things to wear. I went into my room and grabbed the laundry basket full of clothes. I went out of the apartment and started to walk down the stairs. I tripped and dropped my basket. A pair of hands caught it and I looked up to see Itachi holding it.

"Hey, thanks Itachi." I said, taking it back from him.

"You doing laundry too?" He asked, picking up his own basket. I nodded in response and continued down the stairs. I could hear Itachi's footsteps behind me. I walked into the laundry room and went over to a washer. Itachi came over and stood next to me.

"So, what's up with you and Pein?" Itachi asked, smirking.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked, acting clueless.

"Don't act dumb with me. I totally saw him holding your hand. Give me details!" He said.

"Geez, Itachi. You're sassy." I said, smirking.

"What the fuck? I'm a guy."

"I know. And a sassy one at that."

"Whatever." He said, pouting. "Anyway, so you and Pein? . . . "

"There's nothing." I said. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Don't think I'm giving up that easy." He said.

"Fine. We're dating. Don't tell Sasori, he'd kill Pein."

"I knew it! And you're right. You are gonna tell him though, right?" Itachi asked loading his clothes into the washer.

"Well, yeah. I'm gonna tell him after school tomorrow. Pein is gonna go to your apartment while I do it though."

"Why us?" Itachi asked.

"Because. Hidan and Kakuzu are scary." I said, pushing the button on the washed to start it. Itachi did the same with his and it made a beeping sound. We walked back up to the hallway and back into our apartments. I walked in the door and I saw Sasori on the couch, but I didn't see Pein. I looked around in the kitchen, but still couldn't find him. I figured he was in our room. I walked in the door, he was reading again and didn't look up when I entered the room. For some reason he was sitting on the floor, and not in a chair like a normal person. Since he hadn't seen me come in I snuck up behind him, trying to scare him.

"Rawr!" I said, grabbbing his shoulders from behind. He stiffened for a moment as if I'd actually scared him and then relaxed, looking over his shoulder to smile at me.

"Oh no, you scared me so much." He said. He said, putting down his book.

"What are you reading?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

"A book."

"I see." I said, smiling.

"Where did you go?" He asked, turning around so I was in front of him.

"To do laundry. Oh, and I saw Itachi on the way there. He knows about us. He saw us holding hands when we came in, and wouldn't leave me alone till I told him. Are you mad?" I asked.

"No. It's better that he knows." Pein said, smiling. "And knowing Itachi, he will tell Kisame. And he will tell Hidan and before we know it, everybody will know." Pein said.

"Yeah. They know better than to tell Sasori. He would blow a fuse if he found out like that." I said, chuckling. Pein nodded. I yawned and layed back against the bed, tired. Pein sighed and layed down next to me.

"I need a nap." I said, sighing.

"Yeah, I think we all do." He said, smirking. I smiled at him and yawned again. I rolled over, facing away from Pein. My eyes drooped. I felt warm arms wrap around my waist, pulling my body back against his chest. I leaned back into him and fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock beeping at me. I groaned and remembered that it was Monday. I sighed and got up, turning the alarm clock off. Pein sat up in bed, yawning. He leaned back and threw a pillow over his face, moaning. While he was laying there with a pillow on his face, I quickly changed into my school uniform. I ran a brush through my hair, tearing out the knots. Suddenly, warm arms wrapped around my waist pulling me back. his lips lightly brushed my cheek. I turned around to face him. Pein pulled me closer, pressing his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed back. There was a knock on the door and I pulled away.

"Hey, you guys are up right?" Sasori said, his voice muffled through the door.

"Yeah." I called out, hoping he would leave. There was no answer so I assumed he was gone. I pulled away from Pein and turned to leave. I grabbed my shoes and hat on the way out and then sat on the couch, tieing my shoes. Sasori came over and sat down next to me, smiling. I smiled back, and them remembered what I had to tell him later that day. Soon after we all left for school. This morning Itachi offered to drive us all instead of walking. Me, Sasori and, Pein sat in the back, me in the middle. We almost died on the way there due to Itachi's many break-checks. When we arrived at school, I saw Ino and Sakura standing by the entrance doors, talking and gossipping way louder than they needed to be. When I walked by I heard whispers.

"Some people just shouldn't be able to go here." Ino said, being a bitch as usual.

"Totally." Sakura replied, being just as cold. I ignored it but Sasori and Pein gave them glares. We walked to out lockers, not really bothering for anyone else. After rumagging through my binder looking for my math homework, I shut my locker and started toward math class. School went by quickly most of the day ending up ok. But when school ended, Pein went with Itachi and Kisame, and I walked with Sasori.

"Hey Sasori?" I asked on the way home.

"Yeah?"

"Um, what would you do if I was dating someone?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"A lot of things."

"Well, I don't want to keep this from you. But, me and Pein are dating." I said, cringing at the ground waiting for the yelling. But no yelling came, only silence. I looked up at him. His face showed no anger surprisingly.

"Are you mad?" I asked.

"No, of course not."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If he makes you happy, by all means date him. But the one time he hurts you, I lost all of my respect for him. I was pretty sure he liked you, just by the way he looked at you. " Sasori said, smiling. I smiled back and continued to walk into our apartment.


	10. Work

**A/N: Woo! 10 chapters! R&R! c:**

**~ Aiko**

I walked into the kitchen and decided to eat an apple again. After eating my apple I got a huge headache. I rummaged through the cupboard in the bathroom but couldn't find any. I walked back out into the living room to find Sasori sitting on the couch.

"Hey Sasori, do we have any medicine?"

"I don't think we do. Are you ok?" He asked, standing up and touching my forehead.

"Yeah. I just have a headache." I said, and he retracted his hand. "I'm gonna go see if Itachi and Kisame have any." I said, heading for the door.

"Ok, see you later."

"Bye." I said, closing the door behind me. I went to Itachi and Kisame's door and knocked.

"Hey sweetheart, need a cup of sugar?" Itachi asked, opening the door.

"No. I need a cup of aspirin." I said, smirking. "You got any medicine?" I asked.

"Yeah, come in." Itachi said, stepping aside to let me in. When I entered the room Pein stood up and smiled at me, following me to the bathroom. Itachi opened the cabinet to reveal a lot of medicine and other bandages.

"Wow. Why do you have so many medicines, and bandages?" I asked, picking up a bottle of aspirin.

"You clearly haven't been around Kisame for a while. He's more clumsy then you are, Onyx." Itachi said, smirking.

"I'm not clumsy." I said, pouting.

"I hate to say this, sweetheart. But you kind of are." Pein said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and giving me a small squeeze. I looked up at him and smiled. I walked to Itachi's kitchen and got a glass of water and then took the pills. The headache subsided almost immediately.

"So, you ready to go?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah, I just need to stop by my apartment and get my apron and nametag." I said, heading towards the door.

"Ok, I'll come with you." Itachi said, and Pein got up to follow. When we got to our house Sasori was still sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hey Itachi. Hey Pein. Onyx, did you find some medicine?" Sasori said, looking at us as we came in.

"Yeah. I found some." I said, smiling and grabbing my apron and nametag.

"Good."

"Yeah, Itachi's gonna drive me to work today. I'll be back around 9, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." He said, and waved. I waved back and Itachi, Pein, and I walked down to the parking lot. When I got to Itachi's car Pein gently grabbed my shoulders and turned me around.

"I'm gonna miss you." He said, smiling.

"I'll miss you, too." I said, smiling back. He pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, due to me being short I had to stand up on my tip-toes just to kiss him back. He laughed and picked me up off the ground so he didn't have to lean down.

"We're gonna be late." I heard Itachi murmur. I laughed and pulled away.

"I'll come see you around 7, ok?" Pein said, a sad look in his eyes. I nodded and he leaned down and kissed my cheek. After waving to Pein I got into the passenger seat of Itachi's car and put on my seatbelt, not wanting to fly though the windshield.

"You guys are cute." Itachi said, smirking. I smiled and looked at Itachi. "You know, I knew Pein before he was new here. He was always alone, and had very few friends. He was bullied a lot as a child and also lost his parents when he was really young. He's a lot like you, Onyx. I'm happy to see that he's found someone that he loves. Especially since it's you and not Sakura or something. I don't think he could of picked a prettier girl, either." Itachi said, looking at me.

"Thanks, Itachi." I said, smiling.

"I do have to admit, I used to have a bit of a crush on you when I was a kid." He said, avoiding my gaze. I smiled and laughed, I never knew that. I looked up at him and realized he was blushing. When we arrived at the restaurant the girl at the desk smiled at us. Itachi waved at her and she smiled shyly and waved back. We went into the back and I tied my apron around my waist and clipped my nametag on my shirt. Itachi came over and handed me a notebook and a pen. I stuffed them into the pockets of the apron. He also handed me some straws which I proceeded to stuff into the pockets of the apron.

"Now you just go take orders and bring the food to the table. Your break is at 7, and that's when Pein said he was coming. So you can just talk to him or whatever in the break room or something. And Kakuzu can give you pointers as well." He said, nodding to Kakuzu. Kakuzu waved at me and I waved back. A girl came over and handed Itachi a paper. She then walked away without a word.

"And it looks like you've already been requested." Itachi said, nodding to a table. He walked away, leaving me to wonder who it was. I peeked over the top of the booth and noticed that it was Deidara and Karako from school. I gasped and walked over to Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu?" I said, with a scared look.

"You want something." He said. I nodded.

"What is it?" He said, sighing.

"Do that table for me? I'll pay you $25? Please?" I asked.

"Ok, fine." He said.

"Thanks 'Kuzu!" I said, quickly reaching over and hugging him. He patted me twice on the back before stepping away and walking towards the table. I sighed in relief and walked towards a table of people who were looking a little anxious.

"Hello, my name's Onyx and I'll be your server today. What would you like to drink?" I said, giving a smile. At the table there was 3 boys and 1 girl. The girl had short brown pixie-cut hair that was messy and framed her face. She was sitting next to a rather somber-looking guy that had black hair and looked a lot like Itachi. I recognized the blonde boy from school. He had blonde almost yellow hair that stuck up in spikes and cat whiskers on the side of his face. The other guy looked quiet somber as well and had black hair that was in a ponytail and ended in spikes.

"Yeah, I would like some tea, please." Said the girl, smiling. The guy beside her nodded in agreement and I jotted that down on the notepad Itachi had given me. The other two boys also ordered tea and I set off to go get some. I walked into the kitchen and told one of the people that I needed a pitcher of tea and some glasses. I poured the tea into the four cups and walked back to the table.

"Ok, here is your tea. Have you decided on what you would like to eat?" I asked, smiling,

"I'll have the Yakisoba, please." The girl said.

"I'll have 3 orders of the chicken and beef ramen." Said the blonde boy with the whiskers.

"I will have the Tonkatsu, please." Said the black haired boy who looked like Itachi. The other guy ordered some Curry Rice and I went into the kitchen, hanging the order on the counter. I picked up a tray and loaded the food onto it, trying not to tip it over. I went back to the table and set down the tray, after everyone had their food off the tray and in front of them I took the tray back. When I checked the clock it was a few minutes before 7.

_'Pein's gonna be here soon! I can't wait!' _I thought. When the clock struck 7 I waited in the back. When Pein walked through the door I came out of the back and walked toward him. I talked to the girl at the desk and told her I was going to go outside for my break. I walked outside. When Pein saw me he walked forward and caught me in a tight hug. I smiled and pulled closer, burying my face in his chest. His hand found my chin and tilted my face up to his, looking in my eyes. He leaned down and kissed me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I leaned into his kiss, not caring that we were in public.

"I missed you." He whispered in my ear.

" I missed you too." I whispered back. We pulled apart, but he kept holding onto my hand as we sat down on a bench. We sat and talked for a few minutes before I realized my break was almost over.

"Pein, I gotta go." I said, standing up.

"Ok. I love you." He said, pulling me into a tight hug.

" I love you too." I said back, smiling.

"I'll see you when I get home, ok?" I said, pulling back.

"Yeah. Ok." He said as he leaned down and kissed me. He left and the rest of work passed uneventfully, with me getting a couple tips. When I was done with my shift and had clocked out, I found Itachi who was just untieing his apron and clocking out as well. After he was done we walked to the car. We drove home, making little small talk between eachother. When we arrived at the apartment complex, we got out and walked to the doors. Itachi walked me up to my apartment door, where I thanked him and kissed him on the cheek and went inside. When inside, I giggled at noticing Itachi was blushing when I left.

"Onyx! You're home!" I heard Pein say. And in an instant he was in front of me, hugging me. I smiled and hugged him back.

"I missed you." He whispered.

"You've said that three times today." I said, pulling back and smiling.

"Well it's true." He said, leaning down and kissing me. We walked back to our room and quickly went to bed because we were both tired.


	11. Tragic

I woke up to the alarm clock, blaring its usual obnoxiously loud beeping sound. I looked over and Pein was still sleeping beside me. I took this advantage of him sleeping to get up and change. I walked over to the closet and pulled out my regular school uniform shirt and changed into it. Then I changed into the pleated skirt that all the girls had to wear. 90% of us hated wearing it, only the girls who liked exploiting themselves were the ones who liked the uniforms. Then I pulled on my normal knee-high black lace-up boots and walked over to the still-sleeping Pein. I crouched beside him and lightly shook his shoulder.

"Pein, wake up." I said, still shaking his shoulder. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. His eyes lazily opened.

"How did I know that was going to wake you up?" I said, smirking. He smiled back and sat up.

"I'm gonna go make sure Sasori is up." I said, standing up from my crouching position beside the bed. "Oh, and don't you _dare_ go back to sleep." I said over my shoulder with a smirk. I left our room, walking towards the living room. Sasori wasn't on the couch as usual, so I went to his room. I knocked on the door but there wasn't a reply.

"Sasori?" I said, opening the door and peeking inside. All of the lights were off, but there was a gentle glow coming from a lamp on his desk in the corner of the room. I walked over to his bed, where he was still sleeping. His alarm clock was blinking, as if it had gone off, but he pressed the snooze button instead of getting up, or he had just ignored it and waited for it to stop. I walked back over to the wall and turned on the light. This of course, didn't do anything to the snoozing Sasori in the bed. I walked over to the bed again and crouched beside the big lump of blankets and pillows. I pulled back the blankets and he was still asleep.

"Sasori! Wake up!" I said loudly, shaking his shoulder violently. He still didn't wake up. Now I was confused. Sasori wasn't a heavy sleeper.

"Sasori!" I yelled. I flung off the rest of the covers. Why wasn't he waking up? I touched his neck, making sure he was still alive. There was no pulse. He wasn't breathing. My eyes went wide I started to breathe heavy. I stood up and ran out of the room, heading towards my room where Pein was, hoping he would know what to do.

"Pein!" I yelled, running through the hallway. I bumped into him in the hallway. He could tell something was wrong.

"Onyx? What's wrong?" He asked frantically and grabbing my shoulders.

"It's Sasori." I gasped. "Something's wrong." Pein's eyes went as wide as my own, and he ran towards Sasori's room. I was right behind him. He flung open the door, Sasori was still laying on the bed, lifeless.

"Sasori?" Pein asked, moving closer. Pein's fingers touched Sasori's neck. "He has no pulse." Pein said, looking over at me.

"I know!" I said, exasperated. "We need to call the police or something!" I said.

"Go get Itachi and Kisame." Pein said. I nodded and ran out of the room, leaving the door open. I exited our apartment, leaving that door open as well.

"Kisame! Itachi!" I yelled, pounding as hard as I could on the door. A sleepy looking Itachi answered the door.

"Onyx? Is everything ok?" Itachi asked, rubbing his eyes.

"No!" I yelled. "Something is wrong with Sasori!" Tears were starting to well up.

"What?!" Kisame said, coming into view. I turned and ran back into our apartment. Kisame shut the door behind him as he followed Itachi and I. I ran to Sasori's room.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked Pein, who still kneeled beside Sasori's still body.

"Sasori's not breathing. Something's wrong. We need to call somebody." Pein replied, frantic. I sniffled and nodded, returning to the kitchen to grab the phone.

"Just call 911, Onyx." Kisame said. I nodded and dialed. They picked up.

"Hello, 911. What is your emergency?" A female voice asked.

"Um, yes. My friend, t-there's something wrong." I said, my voice breaking multiple times. I sniffled and handed the phone to Itachi, not being able to speak.

"Yeah, we need help. Our friend isn't breathing. There's no pulse and he's not moving." Itachi reported to the girl. "Ok, thank you." Itachi said, and handed the phone to me. I walked back to the kitchen and put it on the receiver. I sniffled more as I walked back into the room. Itachi was now bent over Sasori's body, listening for any signs of breathing. Pein came up beside me, wrapping one of his arms around my waist. I closed my eyes as tears started to flow down my cheeks. Pein kissed my cheek and pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back. I couldn't imagine life without Sasori, it wouldn't ever be the same. Even if he did live, we'd have to watch him carefully. There was a knock at the apartment door and I pulled away from Pein to go answer it. Pein followed me to the door and I let the paramedic in. The paramedic pushed past me, into Sasori's room, where Itachi and Kisame explained what happened. The paramedic put Sasori on a gurney and strapped him to it. Then they rushed him down the stairs, and into the back of an ambulance.

"Are you two going to ride in the back?" A female paramedic asked me and Pein. I nodded and we followed her into the back of the ambulance, where there was a male paramedic as well.

"I wouldn't worry about your friend. He's probably going to be ok." The paramedic said. Pein wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I leaned into Pein and rested my head on his shoulder. Pein kissed the top of my head and then rested his chin atop my head. Tears started to flow again, rolling down my cheeks. I reached up and scrubbed them away, sniffling.

"Ok, we're here." The female said, opening the doors and gesturing for us to go first. I nodded and followed Pein out of the ambulance. They wheeled Sasori out on the gurney and rushed him into the hospital, slamming doors on the way there. Pein grabbed my hand and we walked into the hospital and waited in the waiting room. A few minutes later, the rest of them showed up. Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi, Kisame, all of them had skipped school to make sure that Sasori was ok.

"Hey, are you ok, Onyx?" Itachi asked. I shrugged and sniffled. "I'm sorry." Itachi said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I continued to look at the white linoleum tile floor. It was streaked with dirt and dust. Pein put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I leaned into him, resting my forehead against his chest. A few minutes later the doctor came in.

"We've put Sasori on life support to see if he will start breathing again. You guys should go home, it's almost 2. Shouldn't you be in school?" The doctor asked. I looked down, I was still wearing my uniform. I didn't have time to change when we were at home. But I sure as hell wasn't going to go to school now. When I asked the nurse, she said that we weren't allowed to see Sasori because he was in critical condition and wasn't in proper care for visitors. After that we went home, Itachi and Kisame stayed with us while Hidan and Kakuzu called the school and explained what had happened and why we hadn't called in to speak of our absence. I sat on the couch, staring at the floor. Pein was in the kitchen talking to Kisame and Itachi quietly, but I could still hear them.

"Do you think Onyx is going to be ok?" Kisame asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm not sure." I heard Pein reply. "They've been friends for a really long time, I really hope he lives, for her sake." Pein added.

"Onyx is strong, I think she'll be ok if Sasori doesn't live. It'll take time, but she'll recover." Itachi said. Tears started to flow down my cheeks again. I really hoped Sasori would live. If he didn't I don't know what I would do. I know Pein cares about him too, and I can tell that he's worried about Sasori. I got up and walked back to my room. It was nearly 3 now. School would be getting out soon, and I would probably have to go to school tomorrow. I sat down on the bed, thinking. I could ditch school and never come back. I stared at the ground, frowning. I had stopped crying now. I reached over to the desk and grabbed my iPod. I stuck the ear buds in my ears and turned in up all the way.

"_Even though I'm on my own, I know I'm not alone. 'Cause I know there's someone somewhere, praying that I'll make it home. So here's one from the heart, my life right from the start. I need a home sweet home, to call my own." _This was one of my favorite songs and I listened to it often. I heard a loud noise above my music. Surprised, I pulled them out of my ears and turned the iPod off. I stood up and walked out into the kitchen where Pein, Itachi, and Kisame were all wearing big smiles.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around.

"Onyx! It's Sasori! He's breathing by himself, and he's awake! We've gotta go see him!" Pein fumed happily. I smiled, it was the first time I had since this morning. We all hurriedly got into Itachi's car and drove to the hospital. When we got there, we all jumped out of the car and ran towards the automatic doors. Kisame smacked right into one as it was opening. I laughed and followed Pein into the lobby. There were lots of people there, and they looked at us like we were crazy, that was pretty normal for us. I walked up to the front desk.

"Hi, we need to see Sasori Akasuna, please." I told her.

"Ok, he's room 174." She replied. Then she looked over at Kisame. "Oh, and sir, please be more careful when you are entering the building, those doors are new." She said. I chuckled and Kisame apologized. After that I walked rather quickly to the elevator. I pressed the number 4 and the elevator started to rise, causing my stomach to flip. The elevator had many mirrors, and if you looked at it from the right angle, it looked like a never-ending string of mirrors in the reflection. I bit my lip nervously; I never liked elevators and the way they made your stomach feel funny. I just wished the elevator would hurry up and get to the fourth floor already. Finally the elevator beeped and opened the brown doors. I quickly walked out of the elevator, leaving the others in. Then I stopped and waited for them to get out of the elevator. Pein walked out and grabbed my hand. I smiled, feeling better knowing that Sasori was most likely to live now. Kisame and Itachi emerged from the elevator and started walking in the direction of Sasori's room. When we got there, I knocked on the door loudly. I heard him call from inside the room. I grabbed the door handle and twisted it, letting go of Pein's hand. The door opened to reveal Sasori laying in a hospital bed. There was no nurse in the room, just a button on the wall next to him. He smiled weakly when he saw me. I quickly walked forward, grinning.

"You're ok." I said quietly. I sat on the side of his hospital bed and hugged him. He hugged back weakly.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit confused. What the hell happened anyway?" He asked. I pulled back and looked at him. It looked like he had the life sucked out of him. His face was sunken in, and he had huge bags under his eyes.

"Um, well, Pein and I woke up for school, and when you weren't on the couch, I got a little worried. You're never up late. So, I went into your room, and you wouldn't wake up." I said, my voice was starting to break, remembering the tragic morning. I frowned and looked down. Tears started to pool up again, I continued to look down and sniffled.

"Hey, it's ok." Sasori said softly. He leaned over and hugged me. I hugged him back.

"You don't have to cry. I'm ok now." He said.

"I know you're ok, now. And I'm so happy that you are." I said, rubbing away the tears. The others just stood there, staring at us awkwardly. Sasori looked over at them.

"How come I don't get hugs from any of you?" He joked. "Get over here!" He said and grinned. I smiled and moved out of the way. Itachi walked over to Sasori and hugged him.

"Dude, you scared the shit out of me. Don't do that." Itachi said.

"It's not like I tried to, ok." Sasori said back, rolling his eyes. Itachi pulled away and nodded. Kisame then ran over and almost tackled Sasori with a hug.

"Guess what, Sasori? I ran into the automatic doors downstairs." Kisame said with a grin. I laughed, remembering how he had rubbed his cheek when he separated from the door.

"That's my Kisame, stupid as usual." Sasori said, and laughed. I smiled and leaned back against the wall of the room. Pein walked forward and hugged Sasori.

"Just so you know, you scared the hell out of me too." Pein said, smirking.

"I'm sorry for scaring all of you. But it's not like I wanted to. Oh, and Pein, you better have been nice to Onyx while I was gone." Sasori said, smirking.

"He was, I was watching." Itachi said, smiling.

"Oh, Itachi, you did call work and tell them we weren't coming in, right?" I asked, looking at Itachi.

"Yeah, of course. It's not like it would matter, though. The receptionist there, Naomi, has a huge crush on me, so we're ok." Itachi said. I nodded. Pein walked over to where I was and grabbed my hand, I smiled and intertwined my fingers with his. I saw Sasori look over at us and smile. He was ok with it, as long as I was happy.

"So, Sasori, when do you get to come home?" I asked.

"Probably tomorrow, if I can talk the nurse into it, which I'm sure I can." He replied, smirking. I nodded. A nurse peeked her head into the room and saw us.

"Hey, visiting hours are over, you need to leave." She said to us.

"Ok." I replied and she shut the door.

"I guess we better leave." Kisame said, frowning. I walked forward, letting go of Pein's hand. I walked over to Sasori's bed and sat down on the edge again. I reached forward and hugged him.

"I'm gonna miss you." I said quietly.

"Don't you think I'm gonna miss you?" He said, hugging me back. I leaned over and pecked his cheek.

"Get better, ok?" I said and stood up. He nodded. Itachi, Kisame, and Pein said their goodbyes and we left. We took the elevator down again, and I tried to ignore the flip floppy feeling in my stomach. Pein reached over and put his arm around my shoulders. I smiled and leaned into him. The elevator beeped and opened. When we exited, the receptionist looked up.

"Please be careful on your way out, sir." She said, obviously directed at Kisame. He saluted to her and turned around, walking slowly towards the automatic doors. But this time he walked too slow and bumped into the doors again. The woman rolled her eyes and muttered something about teenagers being stupid. I smirked and laughed. We all walked to Itachi's car. I was still wearing my uniform for some odd reason, why I hadn't changed before we came was beyond me. We drove home, trying not to crash the car. It was obvious Itachi's driving skills were not very good. He drove us to our apartments. Itachi and Kisame disappeared into their apartment after waving and saying goodnight. Me and Pein entered our apartment. I closed the door behind us. So much had happened today, too much to believe it was real. I was deep in thought when I was snapped out of my mind by Pein leaning forward and kissing me. I gasped and pulled back a little.

"Are you ok?" He asked. I nodded.

"You just surprised me. I wasn't really paying attention." I replied, smirking. I walked into the kitchen, just now remembering that I had to eat. I hadn't eaten all day, what with all of this happening. I opened the fridge, searching for something to eat. I found an apple in the fridge and decided that would do. I bit into it, it made a crunching sound as I pulled out a huge chunk of apple-y goodness. After I was done and had eaten it all (Except for the core and stem, of course) I threw what was left of it away.

"I'm gonna go put some normal clothes on." I said, heading for my room.

"Ok." Pein said, smiling and sitting on the couch. I walked into my room and grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans and a Sleeping with Sirens shirt out of my closet. I put them on and then walked out into the living room where Pein was sitting on the couch, watching something on the TV. I walked over and sat down next to him. He smiled and put his arm around my waist. I leaned into him and smiled. I wouldn't know what to do if I was alone here. It was nice to have Pein here along with me. I looked over at the TV, where it was on the new channel. I could feel Pein's eyes on me, watching me. I looked over at him and smiled. He grinned back and kissed my cheek. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He leaned over and pressed his lips against mine, I smiled under the kiss. I kissed back, still smiling. He pulled me over into his lap so he didn't have to lean over anymore. I was getting used to his piercings that gently poked into my chin each time we kissed. I pulled back and bit my lip. He grinned at me.

"You're beautiful." He said quietly. I shrugged back in response, as if to say 'Not really, but you can think that.'

"Come on." He said, tugging me up from the couch. I grabbed the remote to the TV and turned it off before we left. We walked to our room. The house still felt a little empty without Sasori here, but it would be worse without Pein. I closed the door behind us. He sat on the bed and gestured for me to sit next to him. I sat down next to him, a bit confused.

"I have something for you." He said, grinning. Now I was really confused.

"What?" I asked.

"Just, wait here." He said. He got up and exited the room. I just sat there, waiting for him to come back. What did he have? I was extremely curious. He walked back into the room, holding something behind his back. I tilted my head slightly, still confused. He grinned and sat down next to me. It was a little black box. On the box there was some old writing in Japanese. I didn't read it, figuring it was a brand.

"What is it?" I asked, looking up at him. He smiled and opened the box, revealing a beautiful blue necklace. There were beads around the lining of the necklace, and in the front there was a little cat figurine, it was blue as well as the beads on the necklace.

"It's beautiful." I said, and looked up at him.

"It was my mother's, she loved cats. That kind of explains the little cat on it. It reminded me of you." He said, taking it out of the box. He pulled my hair over to one side and then clipped the necklace around my neck. I looked down at it, resting on top of my T-shirt. Then I looked up at him.

"Are you sure you want to give this to me? It was your mom's." I said quietly.

"Of course, I'm sure." He said with a smile. I smiled back.

"Well then, thank you." I replied. He leaned over and hugged me, I hugged him back. He pulled back and pressed his lips to mine.

"We should go to bed. It's kind of late." He said, playing with a strand of my hair. I nodded and we went to bed.


End file.
